Here Until the End
by Ruby Daughter of Ares
Summary: Sequel of Here for Good. After everything that happened earlier in the year, Nico decides to try new things. Piper is lonely, Leo is basically missing, Percy is apparently a horrible boyfriend, Octavian is in a lot of pain, Hazel is in love, and Jason has no idea what he's doing. Meanwhile prom is steadily approaching and nobody is ready for that. Not even Silena.
1. Introduction

Pernico, Pipabeth, OctaLuke, Jeyna, Frazel (one sided), Freo, Gruniper, Clarisse/Chris, Silena/Charles, Bianca/Thalia

All rights reserved to Rick Riordan

_**This is the sequel to my story Here for Good! Read that before this! Or don't and be really confused! Your choice!**_

* * *

Octavian didn't really like waking up in horrible pain, but it seemed like it was happening every day.

The first few times he had cried, and that seemed to only encourage them to hit harder. So he stopped, thinking they would get bored if he didn't show emotion. But they didn't.

They kept going until he was numb with pain. Every single inch of his body screamed in pain, and it was too much for him to handle.

Yet, every morning he would wake, eyes fluttering open and then squinting closed, dragging himself into an almost sitting position, before falling back onto the bed, crying out in pain.

If his parents were ever actually home, they would have heard him and burst through the door. But of course they were not there, and even if they were, they would have headsets on so they wouldn't hear a thing. If they did, they would ignore it, and Octavian knew this.

Slowly he would dress, pulling on a blazer and buttoning up his long sleeved dress shirt. Thank goodness it was winter and wearing long sleeves wasn't questioned, because the purplish bruises were very obvious and everywhere.

He had gotten a few strange looks whenever he got pushed in the hallway and cringed, sometimes accidentally letting out a swear or gasping, but no one had come up and actually asked him about it.

Another one of the benefits of being the quarterbacks gay lover, nobody could mess with you, at school at least.

After school was a completely different story.

* * *

Sitting at a table by himself wasn't how Frank had originally planned to spend his lunch, but with his boyfriend missing somewhere and all of his friends talking to other tables, that was how he ended up.

Not only had Leo been missing for lunch every day, even at their house he locked himself in the garage most days, toying with the car and anything he brought home from school. Sure, he wasn't supposed to bring things home from school, but he did anyway. Frank had yelled at him the first few times, but then dropped it when he saw how happy Leo was tinkering away.

Nowadays just seeing Leo besides the drive to school was surprising. They didn't have any classes together due to being in different grades, and even though they shared a lunch period, Leo stayed in the woodshop room for the entirety of it.

The only thing calming him was that Leo was eating. He knew that for sure, because he asked the woodshop teacher to make sure he actually ate. Maybe it was a little embarrassing, but Frank didn't really care. As long as Leo was healthy everything was fine.

Maybe not great, but fine.

Percy banged his head against the lunch table. He was such a horrible boyfriend. What kind of guy doesn't want their partner to go out and make friends? An asshole, that's who. And that was exactly what Percy was.

The wonderful di Angelo decided it was about time for him to try new things, and make new friends, be a little more social. Percy's immediate reaction was positive, Nico being happy was great, but after a week of serious thought, he had plenty of doubts.

Most of them were pure jealousy, other guys spending time with HIS boyfriend, but some were serious concerns. He could get hurt, or get attacked by stupid homophobes again, and this time Percy wouldn't be able to swoop in out of the blue.

Of course, it wasn't like he could forbid Nico from doing it. That would add a thousand more asshole points, and probably add single to his Facebook status. Nico would do whatever the hell he wanted, and that was part of the reason that Percy loved him. No no no, liked him a lot. He wasn't at that point yet, or was he? Ugh, he was starting to sound like a middle school girl.

He eventually did approach Bianca about the topic, and she had her doubts too.

"I don't want to see him get hurt again, but he does need to get out more and experiment. He's a teenage boy, they're weird. You understand them better than me," she tried to reason, but ended up making Percy even more confused.

So, in the end, Percy ended up with a bruise on his forehead for the rest of the day and a killer headache.

* * *

Piper was fuming. It was Tuesday, and Tuesday's were movie day. Well, more like cuddle and make out while a movie plays in the background day. And what did Annabeth do? Rain check it. Why? Quiz bowl.

That stupid team of elite nerds was ruining her life. Whenever Piper didn't have choir, Annie had Quiz Bowl. And the one day they both have off their friends decided to have a huge get together so there was no private time.

Seeing each other in the hallways really didn't count, and it certainly wasn't enough. FaceTiming while doing homework was a mess because they had different classes and Piper constantly pestered her girlfriend for answers because she was too lazy to look them up. Calling in the middle of the night was no good because Annabeth had younger siblings that would sometimes wake up and snitch on her. Her father could care less but her step-mother got angry.

Piper was for once glad her father was out of the house all the time. Annabeth could drop by anytime and they didn't have to worry about getting caught doing anything. Not that they did anything bad, it was just reassuring that her dad wouldn't walk in on them making out. Her dad was fine with her relationship but still, nobody wants to experience that level of awkwardness. It's like getting walked in on when taking a shower. Gross.

But that didn't even matter anymore, since the only person she wanted to invite over was always busy with her stupid nerd game. Okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. But there were no other girls on the team and all of the boys were drooling over her, not that they had a chance. Annabeth being a lesbian, and the fact that they could recite pi to the fiftieth digit, but couldn't tie their own shoes.

So Piper laid her head down on her desk and frowned, not able to do anything about her dilemma.

* * *

Jason had no idea what he was doing in all honesty.

Since the stupid dance he hadn't seen anyone, which wasn't all that surprising. What was surprising was that no girls had even presented themselves to him. None. It was infuriating.

Usually a few girls a month would ask him out on a date, and depending on what they were like, he would decline or agree. Most likely decline because the only girls that asked him out were the snooty ones that only talked about themselves.

It was nice that the girls had the confidence to ask him out rather than he ask them, but in all honesty, he would never have asked out any of the girls he ended up actually going on dates with. They were all nice, but none really stood out.

How he ended up liking a girl completely unlike the perfect girl he had always envisioned mystified him completely.

But it wasn't like he had a choice. His heart didn't really listen to advice or reason. Not even when his brain told it "She's so much better than you, you don't stand a chance! Give up!"

* * *

Hazel had no idea what her heart was doing.

Sure, Frank was really cute, she always knew that, but liking him was completely different. He was sweet and nice and awkward to a point of adorableness and he was so muscular and perfect in every way.

Shit, she was in love.

Burying her face in a pillow and screaming was the obvious solution to her problem. Hopefully Nico nor Bianca heard it.

* * *

**For anyone that actually read this, thank you. I wrote HFG a while ago but I kinda had the urge to tie up loose ends. I have no idea how long this will be but it will be much more organized than my other fic, I swear. But anways, thanks for reading!**


	2. Nico's Ambitions

Nico di Angelo was pretty adorable. Anyone that saw him smile would agree, even an extremely heterosexual guy. He could probably out cute any girl in their school, but that wasn't that hard, most of them were whores.

So when he went around asking to try out different clubs, nobody could say no. The archery club's captain, Will Solace, jumped up and down he was so excited, and then proceeded to go on and on about what they did. Nico was almost late to class he talked so long.

When Annabeth heard, she urged him to join Quiz Bowl, but he declined immediately. That really wasn't his thing, and being around a bunch of nerds would ruin his reputation even more. When Percy heard about the opening, he wanted Nico to join. There would be no competition for him. Little did Percy know there wasn't any competition in the entire school. He was Percy fucking Jackson for the gods' sake.

Lunch that day was more unusual than normal. Will blabbed that Nico would be joining them to the entire team at some point during the day, and Frank started bugging the younger boy.

"Why do you wanna join archery suddenly? Doesn't seem like your kind of thing," Frank pointed out, picking up his sandwich before stuffing almost the entire thing in his mouth.

Nico shrugged. "I'm trying new things; I thought archery might be fun. It's not like if I join the club I have to stay forever," he said.

"I'm sure Solace would like you to," Percy muttered under his breathe. He didn't mean for anyone to hear, but apparently Piper had supersonic hearing and slapped him.

"He's trying new things," she reasoned "this is good for him. Be a supportive boyfriend."

Percy slammed his head down on the table again, not even gaining the attention of his boyfriend next to him, who was too busy chatting about bowstrings or some shit.

"Be like me, Annabeth is off with her nerd club and I'm here lonely as fuck eating this shitty lunch while listening to you be a jealous asshole," she ranted, continuously stabbing an innocent uncrustables sandwich.

Percy lifted his head to reveal a smirk. "You know, when you get angry, you start to swear. In case you weren't aware."

She looked him dead in the eyes, her mouth set into a set line that instilled fear into the hearts of men. "No. Fucking. Way."

* * *

Later, Percy would admit he was stalking his boyfriend, but at the time it seemed like a good idea. Hiding in the bushes next to the shooting range was something a totally sane person would do, right? That was what he told himself.

Admittedly, Nico looked like he was having a good time. Frank was teaching him how to hold the bow, and his first shot actually hit the target. What wasn't good was Will telling him he was a natural and giving him a pat on the back. Sure, it looked harmless, but next thing you know he would grab his little Nico by the collar and pull him into a kiss. What would Nico do? He had no way to defend himself.

When Percy got to this point in his worrying, practice was over. Frank helped Nico pack up his bow, and as they were leaving they chatted happily. Such happiness made Percy smile, but frown immediately after because of how much fun Nico was having without him.

Maybe he was just jealous. No, no way. Percy Jackson did not get jealous. It wasn't possible.

* * *

Trying to do homework wasn't how Percy expected to spend his entire night. Maybe a nice dinner with his mother and Paul, or being invited to go do something with Grover. But no, it seemed as though his phone wasn't working and his mother was content eating with just Paul.

That hurt enough, and with no word from Nico, his depression made it hard for him to study on stupid algorithms. How the hell would these help him? Maybe Annabeth, architecture had a lot of math, but being a marine biologist? That was all science and stuff, right? He wasn't even sure he wanted to be a marine biologist honestly. Being a professional surfer sounded much more fun. He remembered back when he and Nico had just started dating.

"Do you like surfing?" Nico had asked innocently, and caught Percy completely off guard. He tried to get a reply but just stammered for a good few minutes. He had never surfed before, and it was a simply question. But with his love of the ocean he it had never occurred to him to surf. Nico was genuinely confused for a while until he just dropped it entirely.

That was another reason Percy loved Nico, he could drop something at a moment's notice and never question it. Dammit, not love. Strongly like. Who the hell was he kidding, it was impossible not to love the dark haired boy. Another reason he was scared to let him go out on his own. Not only was Nico adorable and sweet, he was beautiful. He had a nice body with a beautiful thighs and a lean stomach and the prettiest smile and dark eyes that lit up when he smile and- basically too many good features to be left alone on the streets. And Percy was scared someone would take advantage of him and seriously scar him. If anyone touched him in any way, Percy would never forgive himself.

Just as Percy was about to throw his math book out the window, "Eleanor Rigby" started playing on his phone. He fell out of his chair in surprise and pounced on the bed where his phone lay. He pressed the answer button two times for good measure and held the phone to his ear. The Beatles song was Nico's ring tone, due to the fact he was in love with the song. It was mildly surprising because it was such a depressing song but it did kind of suit Nico.

"Hello?" Percy said, standing in the middle of his room, all the contents of his backpack sprawled on the floor around him.

"Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier. We got assigned a shit ton of homework and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep during class when the teacher explained how to actually solve the problems. That or she's a horrible teacher. I'm gonna go with the former since nobody else is confused," Nico said.

"Me too, but I don't know if I fell asleep or if I'm just stupid as hell. I'm gonna go with the latter because I got plenty of sleep last night." Nico laughed. "But you don't usually sleep in class, is everything okay?"

Nico let out an audible, over exaggerated sigh. "I'm fine, just stayed up on the internet. You don't have to worry about me so much, you know?"

"But you're so cute I have to look out for you," Percy said. He knew Nico would be blushing at this point, he always did.

"You are as bad as Bianca and Hazel, maybe worse. I swear, even my mother doesn't bother me this much."

"If you don't change that attitude mister I'll tell Bianca that you've been staying up late and she'll force you to sleep in the same room as her. That would fun, wouldn't it?" Percy threatened.

"No," Nico admitted.

"Exactly," he said, practically shining with pride at this point.

"Well you better do your homework or I'll tell your mother that you skipped history to meet up with me last week."

"But-"

"No buts, do your homework."

And with that Nico hung up. Percy let out a huge sigh and threw his phone back onto the bed. More like gently tossed but whatever. He sat back down at his desk, picked up his book from the floor, smoothed out his paper and started writing down random ass answers.

Whatever, he still got points for trying. Hopefully the teacher didn't actually grade it.

* * *

**Heyyy, wassup guiz. That was bad, I apologize. Anyway, hope you guys like it. I'm doing basically one pairing a chapter, well, focusing on one pairing. Next one is OctaLuke! Hope you guys enjoy it! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Luke is Oblivious

Strolling through the halls like the king of the school certainly had its advantages. Everyone moved out of the way when you walked, no chance of running into anyone unless they were blind or an outright idiot. And if that did happen they usually apologized and sprinted off, sometimes forgetting their stuff on the ground. It was kinda sad but also funny for Luke, so he tried to refrain from running into people as much as possible.

The disadvantages were that everyone knew everything about you, and would watch you. All the time. He wondered if they had lives besides staring at him with such loathing glares. Octavian slapped him for saying that, apparently he was too full of himself for his own good. But that didn't stop him from making out with him later, so it couldn't have been that mean.

Just thinking about Tavvy made his heart hurt a little. The boy had been avoiding him for a while now, only talking over the phone and texting. Not even video chatting. Luke had no idea what was going on, but didn't want to intrude on his privacy. Maybe he was just really busy at school or something? He couldn't recall any other juniors having ridiculous amounts of work but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Tavvy wouldn't avoid him right? Of course not.

* * *

Octavian did not originally plan on completely avoiding his boyfriend. But that was just how it turned out.

Ignoring him was the best thing he could do, for both of them. What if they went after Luke too? Sure, Luke could put up a better fight, but there were too many of them for that to even matter. And if Luke touched him he might cry out in pain, giving everything away. And that was the one thing he could absolutely not do.

As much as Octavian hated to admit it, it was all Luke's fault. But he didn't want to blame his amazing and perfect boyfriend for the pain and misery he had been suffering through for the two weeks.

The worst part was that he suspected that they would never stop.

* * *

The Stoll's were not notorious for being the sweetest, nor the kindest. They weren't the kind of people you go to if you need help facing personal problems. And Octavian didn't plan to, it kind of accidentally happened.

Walking through the basically empty hallway on the way to lunch, Octavian was walking slowly. Usually the nerd could beat anyone to any class, but his legs and chest hurt far too much to exert any unnecessary effort. The Stoll's were late after being held up after class by their teacher. Unsurprisingly, they had pulled a prank on Katie Gardner that caused all of the sinks in the classroom to go off simultaneously. Not just go off, basically explode. Nobody knew how they did it, and several people wanted to know, but they got whisked away by the teacher to the back room before they could answer.

Seeing the blond boy in the hallway raised their moods a bit, and they split to be on either side of him.

"Where have you been lately, laddy?" Travis asked, draping an arm across his shoulder. The wince went unnoticed by him, but Connor certainly caught it.

Octavian glared at the brunettes in turn. "I've been busy, and what are you, Irish?"

"Are you okay mate, you look a little out of sorts," Connor said, jabbing at the younger boy's rib. Tavvy let out a whimper and Travis immediately withdrew his arm.

"Tav, what's wrong? You sound like you got run over by a car and got up and walked away," Travis said, smiling uncertainly. Connor shot him a glare and looked at him with concerned eyes, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Octavian waved them both off and started stepping backwards, away from the cafeteria. "Really I'm fine, you guys go to lunch, I forgot mine in my locker," he said, and turned on a heel and started running towards the opposite side of the school.

The brothers looked at each other for a moment, nodded, and sprinted off towards the same direction.

It took no time at all to catch the blond. It would have been a lot harder if he wasn't injured, but lucky for them, he was obviously so. Travis grabbed his hips from behind and pulled him close, arms around his waist. He was glad Luke wasn't around, or he would've gotten the shit beaten out of him.

"Let go of me! Ow, that hurts asshole!" Octavian shouted, but a hand went over his mouth after.

Travis pushed his head close to the boy's ear. "We are supposed to be at lunch, quiet down. And maybe I would let go if you told me what happened," he whispered.

Without an answer, or removing his hand from Tavvy's face, Travis dragged him into the locker room, with Connor trailing behind. When they were far away enough from the door, Travis let go. Octavian almost fell, and it took him a minute to catch his breath. That wasn't a good sign, the star football player out of breath after being dragged twenty feet. The blond plopped himself down on a concrete bench, and leaned back against the lockers.

Connor kneeled down next to grimacing boy, either in pain or in anger, and put a light hand on his shoulder. This time they both saw the wince, and it made them both worry more.

"What happened?" Connor asked, looking straight into the younger boy's sullen blue eyes.

"Who did this to you?" Travis asked, in a way that sounded more like a demand than a question. Octavian's eyes immediately flitted to the standing boy, and they were full of emotion that neither could read. Anger? Pain? Misery? Probably all.

"It's none of your business!" he shouted, making the brothers flinch.

Without another word, Connor's hands flew to Octavian's tie. Said boy tried to swat away the hands, but was unsuccessful as Travis caught them.

"Wha- what do you think you're doing!" Octavian shouted, and Travis wished he had another hand to put over the boy's mouth. Sure, he was nice and all, but all this shouting was giving him a headache. How did Luke put up with this?

He probably didn't. Apparently Luke hadn't seen Tavvy for two weeks, and was a little worried. But being the cowards he was, he didn't want to do anything offensive and give him some personal space.

But Travis wasn't like that. He knew something was up, and he didn't let that go like some people. He investigated. And if that meant he had to strip the clothes off of Luke's boyfriend and risk ruining his friendship forever, he would still do it.

Connor didn't take his time undoing all of the buttons on the lousy shirt, and instead just yanked it open, causing the blond to moan. The brunette repressed a chuckle. This guy was too gay to function.

When the shirt was open, the brothers gasped almost simultaneously. The pale boy's entire chest was covered in bruises ranging from dark brown to purple and green. If they actually got him checked out, they would bet that he had some bruised ribs as well. They suspected that his arms were equally mangled, and could see scratches and scars on his hands.

For a while the three just stayed in silence, they had no idea what to do. Connor knew that he was in serious pain and needed to get seen by a doctor. Travis knew that he needed to beat the living shit out of whoever did this to him. Octavian knew he was screwed.

"Who did this," Travis said "and where are they right now?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Like hell you aren't."

"Just go away, I can fix my own problems."

"Ah," Travis said "that's the first step. Admitting you have a problem, right Connie?"

Connor nodded eagerly, with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Octavian let out a shaky breath, and looked straight into the standing brother's eyes.

"Whatever you do, just don't tell Luke."

* * *

Duh duh duhhhhh! I totally ruined the moment but whatever. It's gonna get less depressing I swear.. at least I think it is. That's the plan anyway. Anywho, hope you liked it. Thanks for reading!


	4. Piper's Annoyance

Piper was good girlfriend. The best, really. She didn't take anything too far, do anything ridiculously stupid, or completely embarrass herself in public.

Until today. Today she was gonna do all three.

And she was quite proud of herself for coming up with plan to do it.

It was after hell, I mean school, that it started. She marched down the hallways, her combat boots resonating in the empty hallway. A few people stayed after school, and all turned their heads as she walked past. And most jaws dropped.

She would say she didn't like people gawking at her, but honestly, it gave her adrenaline. And pride. It wasn't like she could lie and say she wasn't good looking, because she was. Her father was the Tristan Mclean, movie star heart throb, and her mother another ridiculously beautiful unnamed actress. And she managed to land the prettiest, smartest and absolutely best girl in school. That meant something too.

Of course, the room that she was headed to was at the other side of the school, so it took way too long to get there. And by the end of the trek, her feet admittedly hurt. Damn, she needed better shoes. This was the last time Annabeth convinced her to buy beauty over comfort.

Ah, Annabeth. That was why she was in front of the nerd club door, oh wait, the Quiz Bowl room door. Also known as nerd club to everyone that was not in Quiz Bowl.

Fearlessly, she pushed the door. And much to her embarrassment, it was a pull door, so she ran straight into it. After massaging her nose for a moment to get the pain to stop, she pulled it open, and stepped through, making sure to make as much noise as possible.

Sitting at all the front desks were what you could describe as stereotypical nerds, in every sense. A bunch had way too thick glasses, all had messy hair, and all wore sweater vests. Piper quickly thought that Octavian belonged in this club, but quickly dismissed the idea. Even he wasn't this bad, and he was dating Luke. No time for stupid clubs, more time for making out.

And then there was her girlfriend, who could be spending the time making out with her but nooo, she instead opts to hang out with socially awkward boys instead. All of which have unhealthy crushes on her. More like obsessions than crushes really.

"This is the Quiz Bowl team, is it not?" Piper asks in her sweetest tone, crossing her hands behind her back and kicking up a foot.

Annabeth's head whipped up when she heard the voice, recognizing it immediately. Her eyes widened and she slowly stood up, her eyes starting to narrow as her eyebrows lowered into an ominous glare.

One of the boys in the front row stood up first though, and straightened his tie.

"Y-yes," he cleared his throat, "are you looking t-to join? We have openings available."

She smiled brightly directly at the boy, not breaking eye contact, and he practically melted.

"That's exactly why I'm here. Do you have a packet or anything with the schedule?" She asked, punctuating every sentence with a smile that could have fooled anyone into thinking she was innocent.

He nodded and tripped over his own feet digging through piles of papers to find the right one. While he struggled, Piper crossed the classroom and sat down right next to Annabeth, who had since sat down, and just stared incredulously.

Before the blond could even open her mouth, Piper held up a finger and smiled, only lifting one corner of her mouth.

"I'm only here because of you, so don't even start."

"Because of me? What did I do to deserve this?"

Piper blew a piece of hair out of her eyes, and narrowed her eyes at her girlfriend. "You've been spending all of your free time here and not with me, this is the only way I can actually see you now. And what do you mean what did you do to deserve this? I thought you would be happy to see me, that we could do something together. We do stuff I like all the time, see movies, goof off at the mall, now we can do what you want. I thought you would like that, but apparently you don't even want to see me."

"That is not what I said. I just don't want you to do something you don't want to do, and you will most likely hate it and bother me the entire time," Annabeth reasoned, raising her eyebrows so that Piper could see her full blown puppy dog eyes. They were a sparkling gray that made it look like she was close to tears, which she obviously wasn't, but it still had effect.

"Okay, I get what you're going at. But I think this will actually be pretty fun. Anyway, it beats studying by myself all the time, and it's a competition, and you know I like to win."

"Maybe a bit too much."

"Hey!"

* * *

"Pipes!" Jason practically screamed, sprinting down the hallway. Not only did it scare everyone in the junior hallway, but also made the intended target spill all of her books on the ground.

With much cursing and muttering, she eventually picked all of the books back up, and as soon as they were all in her hands, Jason showed up.

"You couldn't have, I don't know, actually come up to me instead of yelling down the hallway. Not very gracious of you is it," Piper sneered, lightly elbowing him. It was hard since she had her entire day of books in her hand, and didn't want to risk dropping them.

"I thought we got over the grace puns a long time ago, I'm mildly disappointed in you," Jason said, frowning and shaking his head.

"Only mildly?"

"I expect this kind of behavior from you, honestly."

He should be glad she was overloaded, or else he would have gotten socked in the eye.

Seeing her face contorted in rage made him chuckle, and he started walking to class, closely followed by his best friend.

"Where were you yesterday after school? I called you like ten times and you didn't pick up. Or were you just ignoring me?"

Piper muttered something incoherent under her breath.

"Pardon?" Jason asked, leaning down right next to her mouth.

That was a mistake, because she yelled right in his ear.

"I was at Quiz Bowl!"

He would have asked her to repeat herself again, but didn't want his eardrum to burst. He couldn't have heard that right though.

"Quiz Bowl?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "You finally got it, congrats on proving you aren't completely deaf. Here, have a cookie. Oh wait, Percy ate them all."

"That's what you get for making blue cookies. But seriously? Quiz Bowl? I don't believe it. Come up with a better lie than that. If you and Annie were somewhere doing something I understand and don't want details but don't make up some lame excuse-"

"I'm not kidding," she said, stopping and staring him right in the eye, "I joined so Annabeth and I have more time with each other. And it seems pretty fun. Answering questions, making all the little nerds nervous."

"Don't be so mean, you're one of them now. You have to represent the people that will actually get far in life," Jason said.

She raised her eyebrows. "I don't think you've met some of these boys. They drool. While sitting at their desks. It's terrifying."

Jason rolled his eyes and started off towards his next class, while Piper turned towards hers. While pivoting, her hand slipped and everything tumbled out of her hands. Needless to say, a few swear word reverberated down the halls that day.

* * *

If you're wondering where the public humiliation comes in, here it is.

It was lunch, where anything that could go wrong goes wrong. She sat at the table whose inhabitants changed by the day. Today it was her, Jason, Frank, Percy, Nico, Reyna and Hazel. She barely noticed how Reyna was poking Nico's cheek and teasing him, and how Hazel was almost drooling while talking to Frank. Jason and Percy were having a way too loud conversation about basketball, which was different from the usual football conversation, and she didn't even pay attention to that. She was too caught up thinking about Annabeth and how she was with the other Quiz Bowl nerds, while Piper was left in with the normal kids. She didn't know why she felt so dejected, but she did.

When Percy and Jason finally stopped arguing about two abnormally tall dudes, she snapped out of her trance.

"Hey Piper, you joining any clubs or anything? Now's about the time that everyone is finally deciding to, kinda weird," Percy asked, losing his train of thought by the end. But Piper still answered the question. In fact she made a big deal out of answering the question.

She stood up on top of the bench seat, towering over everyone in the cafeteria. Almost immediately everyone stopped talking and stared at her. She could feel all of their eyes, and instead of getting nervous, she got excited.

"I would like to announce to the entirety of the student body, well, the student body that is present during this lunch period, that I, Piper Mclean, am joining, drumroll please…"

With that she motioned towards her table, who started banging without any rhythm or beat, basically just pounding on it. She almost fell off due to the vibrations, but when they stopped, she continued.

"QUIZ BOWL!"

After shouting she jumped off and ran down the aisle until she got the door, opening them both at the same time. Basically, if you looked up dramatic exit in the dictionary, Piper's exit would be there.

It took a few minutes for people to stop laughing, and to finally go back to eating. But they kept talking about her, and the best part was that Piper didn't even care. She was too busy running towards the Quiz Bowl practice room, towards her girlfriend and new teammates.

Everyone at their table was dying, not expecting that at all.

"Dibs on her cookie!" Nico shouted, and snatched the pastry right off of Piper's tray that she left.

* * *

**Thanks for reading peoples, hope you are enjoying the story. It's getting weirder I think, but I don't know I'm the one writing it. But as always, review if you want to if you like it or don't like it. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Guardian Angel

Going through the hallways unnoticed was becoming much more difficult for Octavian. Now he had two huge football players on either side of him, glaring at everyone. Sure, some people moved out of their way, but some didn't. There were a lot of people that didn't approve of Octavian and Luke's relationship, girls that wanted Luke for themselves, and guys who thought being gay was disgusting and unethical. So the Stoll's just pushed them out of the way.

What the Stoll's didn't understand was that he was safe at school, and that the real problem was after school ended. But sadly, they didn't listen when he tried to explain it to them. And he tried every single day.

"Con, Trav, I really don't need help getting to my classes. Besides, you're going to be late to your own classes!" He practically shouted as he walked towards chemistry. The Stoll's were a bit behind him today, instead of dragging him as usual.

"But," Connor said, "we don't want anything happening to you. This is the best way to ensure that nothing else happens. You haven't been bothered since we started walking you to classes, right?"

Octavian nodded, but it was a lie. They figured out he was being protected so they didn't leave as many visible marks, but the marks were still there. He told the boys that it was someone from a different school, and they believed him. If he told the truth, nothing good would come from it.

"You're going to lunch tomorrow," Travis said, catching up with the blonde's pace. Said boy whipped his head around, facing the older boy. He opened his mouth, but knew it was no use arguing with Travis, he didn't take no for an answer. How Connor put up with it was a mystery.

With a sigh, Tavvy waved to the two and walked into his classroom, avoiding the looks he usually got.

Travis stood outside and just stared for a moment, even with Connor poking him in the side.

"We are actually going to be late if we don't start moving now, c'mon Trav," he urged, eventually tugging his brother by the shirt.

Turning on his heel, Travis walked the opposite direction, away from his brother and his class. Connor yelled down the hallway but was effectively ignored. Giving up, he went to class, unlike his idiot brother, who continued down the hallway.

* * *

Nico hadn't planned to save the day, it just kind of happened accidentally.

It was after school, he was about to go to archery, just like he did every day. It was actually quite fun, but the level of enthusiasm he had for it didn't match everyone else's. They freaking worshipped it, and always talked about it. It was a bit much for Nico, and he was going to tell Will that.

This preoccupied his thoughts while he was walking towards the range, trying to figure out a way that sounded nice.

It's not you guys, it's me. Wow, way to make it sound like you're breaking up with them.

His normal route went past the locker room exit that the football players used during the season. He usually ignored it, it was just another thing he walked by on his trek, but this time it caught his attention. Well, a sound caught his attention.

"Nice to see you, lover boy, here for the usual?" Nico didn't know who it was, but it sounded familiar. He probably should have kept walking, but he was a nosy boy, and he peeked his head in. The sight was unexpected, and mildly surprising.

Standing face to face was a running back that he knew, Johnny something or other, and Octavian. He hadn't seen the boy in weeks, since he stopped coming to lunch, but he heard that he and Luke were still dating from Percy, and that confused him a bit. They hadn't seen each other for such a long time, how did they stay together? Percy got upset if he went a day without talking to Nico, and admittedly, Nico did too.

"Oh of course, because you know how much I enjoy this," Octavian said, rolling his eyes. Nico narrowed his eyes, neither noticed he was there. Not that he wanted them to, now he was intrigued, wanting to know what exactly was going on.

"You know, I think you really do. That's why you keep coming back, right?" Johnny said, stepping forwards with a grin on his face. The grin wasn't happy, to say that much, more like sadistic.

Octavian stepped back until he was pushed up against the wall, but Johnny didn't stop. He reached a hand out and grabbed his shoulder, gently, almost comfortingly. But the blond didn't look comfortable. He winced at the touch, grabbing Johnny's wrist.

"What, does it hurt? You still sore from yesterday?" Johnny asked in a mocking tone, bringing his head closer to Tavvy's, so that the other twisted his head.

"Not like you gave me time to recuperate," Octavian said, not moving his head.

Johnny backed up a few steps, and Tavvy instantly relaxed, letting out a shaky breath. Nico had no idea what was going on, but it sure as hell didn't look pleasant. What about yesterday? Recuperating? Might as well stay and see what happens, neither seemed to notice him at this point, but if they did, he was closer to the door. Not that he could outrun Tavvy; he was the wide receiver for a reason.

"Well," Johnny said, "it's your lucky day. No bruises, but more pain." His fake smile turned to a snarl, and he reached into his coat pocket.

There was a snap, and all the blood drained from both Nico's and Octavian's faces. Johnny let out a malevolent laugh at the sight of his victim's face, and at this point, Nico knew that he was a victim.

It was a small knife, but it was a knife nonetheless. Johnny inched forward as Octavian tried to melt into the bricks behind him. There was no way for him to get out of the room before something possibly fatal hit him first, and he embraced this as his knees gave out and slid to the ground. This was it, he hadn't seen Luke for two weeks, and now he was going to die like the coward he was. It was all his fault, he should have let the Stoll's help. What harm could they have done? What would have happened if he did? What would happen to Lu-

"Hey! I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here," a familiar voice said, as a dark figure sauntered out from the shadows near the door. Nico di Angelo had his arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face as he took in the scene. With a click of his tongue he walked right in front of the fallen boy, back to him, right in the way of Johnny, who was too shocked to do anything.

"I'm sorry if I've inconvenienced you, but could you please leave. It would be appreciated by all," Nico said, a light, absolutely genuine smile gracing his face.

"A-aren't you Jackson's bitch?" Johnny stammered, not fully understanding the situation, and absolutely dazed by the acts of bravery/stupidity from this boy.

And apparently that was the wrong question, because any joy left the much shorter boy's face, and was replaced by a scowl that could have made the grim reaper run for cover. Then, the small dark haired boy waltzed right up to the probably 6'0" football player and decked him. And it wasn't some weak punch, he got knocked the fuck out.

"Jackson's bitch," he muttered under his breath, before remembering the original reason for stepping in. Turning and running back to Octavian, he slid up right next to him, not worrying about how his black jeans were getting coated in dust and dirt.

"W-why are you here? How did you find me? Why did you do that?" Octavian spouted, not giving any time between questions. His breathing was getting shallower, like he was having an asthma attack.

Nico didn't know what to do, so he reached out an tucked some blond hair behind the older boy's ear, hoping to sooth him. It kinda worked, confusing him and making his stop hyperventilating. He continued to mess around with his hair until he was breathing normally, and then put a hand under his chin.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" The question was simple, but Nico could tell it had a complex answer.

So many thoughts swam in the blonde's head. He barely knew Nico. He had just been saved by a boy he barely knew. He wasn't dead. He still had Luke. He had to get help. He had to tell his parents he loved them. He had to apologize for everything he said to Annabeth and Rachel. He had to-

But at this point he was in tears. The tears he decided he would never shed again after they kicked him harder because of them. The tears that had long been hidden from everyone throughout his entire life.

And for once, he didn't try and stop them. He let them come. And come. And come. And they all fell onto the shoulder of a boy he barely knew. A boy who he owed his life to.

* * *

The next day at lunch, Octavian marched into the cafeteria. Quite proudly.

He had on a short sleeved shirt that showed off all of his discolored bruises. There were rumors going around about how he had gotten run over by a car, and he was almost inclined say they were true.

The best thing about walking in, was that everyone else went silent. They all stared at him, jaws dropping, whispering, some were in tears. But he smiled and walked over to his table, where his two best friends sat. Annabeth and Rachel both looked him up and down, tears slowly filling their eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. He was apologizing for so many things that he knew it wouldn't cut it, but it would have to do for now.

He was engulfed in a bear hug from the both of them, and even though it hurt like hell, he didn't moan or gasp, he smiled, pulling them in closer.

Eventually the two let go, and the normal sounds returned to the cafeteria, although the topics most likely changed.

The two girls immediately started asking questions but Tavvy only gave them a look of utter exhaustion that was 100% genuine, and they shut up. They simply smiled and wiped the tears from their eyes, mumbling under their breath. Tavvy let out a genuine laugh that hadn't been heard in ages.

He looked over his shoulder to see Luke, standing up at his table, staring at his boyfriend in shock, his jaw still dropped. Tavvy gave him a weak smile, and then looked over to another table where his savior sat. Nico looked at him and gave him a thumbs up, jerking his head towards the senior table.

With a sigh Octavian got up, ignoring the protests of his two best friends. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked over to the senior table, which immediately quieted as he got closer.

All eyes were on him as he stood silently in front of them. Silena glanced up and down his arms, Charles, Clarisse, and Chris all looked murderous as they evaluated the damage, Thalia and Bianca looked at each other in utter confusion, and Luke was almost in tears.

"I can explain, not very well, but I can explain," he said, letting out a very long, very sad sigh. He shuffled over to the other side of the table, between Luke and Travis, and sat down, propping his elbows up on the table.

"Honestly, it's all my fault and you all should be totally pissed at me. It's okay if you wanna punch me after this, but please, mind the bruises. Anyway, it started after school after football…"

* * *

**Problem solved? Ish? Oh well, I guess it's kinda resolved. Stay tuned for more updates about Nico and the Quiz Bowl nerds. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Frank's Kinda an Idiot

_I'm going to start responding to reviews at the end of each chapter, addressing the reviews for the previous chapter. Because I felt rude for basically ignoring them. But I promise I didn't actually, I just kinda fangirled to myself. But anyway, if you leave a review, I will respond, so please leave one!_

* * *

Frank was absolutely done. In the way Annabeth said whenever she talked about the books she was reading. It wasn't like he could do anything to change the situation, besides stopping. But everyone knew you couldn't just stop reading a good book, or in his case, end a perfect relationship.

Okay, it wasn't so perfect. He barely saw his "boyfriend". He used quotations because nowadays he doubted Leo even returned the feeling that Frank had for him. Sure, he would tease him at times, and even sometime lean in for a quick kiss; effectively making Frank's heart beat a little too fast. It was great when Leo actually paid attention to him, but when he didn't, life was hell.

During lunch, while everyone was with their partners, he was stuck talking to Jason and Hazel, who he loved, but he wanted his little tinkerer with him. He could only listen to Jason talk about football so many times, and when he did change topic, it confused the shit out of him. He would go from sports to the meaning of life so fast it gave Frank whiplash. Hazel didn't seem to mind talking to Frank, actually, he and Hazel were getting surprisingly close these days. Heck, after school they even went and saw a movie. But Hazel might have been sick or something, because her face was red the entire time.

Instead of moping about his lack of relationship, he made a move. A stupid move, but it was still a move nonetheless.

He asked Percy for help.

Okay, maybe Percy wasn't the most qualified to talk to about relationship, but within the people he knew, it sure seemed like he was the best. Octavian hid from his boyfriend for weeks about getting physically abused, Piper joined a club that she probably would hate, Jason was horrible with relationships and Reyna was a proud single lady.

And it wasn't like he could ask Nico. Even after seeing him all happy with Percy, he was still scared of the dark haired boy. Plus, he hadn't been at lunch recently. Apparently he had joined some club, and Percy was totally okay with that. Another thing that made Percy seem like the best choice.

Honestly, Percy wasn't totally okay with it. After the whole Octavian incident and Nico bailing him out, he was even more terrified something would happen to his boyfriend. Archery wouldn't protect him from a bully, and that Will Solace was an asshole. Why? Percy didn't know himself, but he just was. He had a radar for that kind of stuff.

Percy had started bending his fork when Frank sat down right next to him. He managed to flash a quick smile before going back to being angry.

"H-hey Perce?" Frank said, before clearing his throat. "Can I get some advice on something?"

Percy was surprised, to say the least. Usually Frank would only talk to Jason and Hazel, and Percy would talk to Piper when Nico wasn't there. But Piper had left to go with Annabeth, so Percy was alone. Frank sitting next to him was a sign that everything was going wrong. The tables had turned, well, they stayed in the same place and the seating arrangement was changed up.

"Yeah buddy?" Percy said, twisting in his chair to talk to the tall Asian.

Frank rubbed the back of his neck. "Leo has basically blocked himself off from me completely, spending every second in woodshop or mechanics or whatever class he's in. Even at home he's always working on cars or at the garage. I never see him! I'm afraid he doesn't even want to see me anymore."

The expression on Frank's face was so pitiful Percy had to stop himself from laughing. They both sat there a while, Frank waiting and Percy trying to figure out what good advice would be.

Well, his thoughts went more like: Why is he asking me about this shit? Hasn't he seen how well I deal with me and Neek's relationship?

But he did eventually come up with something.

"Why don't you ask the woodshop or whatever teacher what he's been doing? He might give you a better answer than Leo would. Or you could ask someone who's in the same class as him. Or I could do it! It would be more secretive that way. And fun," Percy said, looking quite proud of himself.

Frank faltered a bit. "I don't know, that sounds a bit like stalking. And maybe a little bit too much. I could just ask him wha-"

"No no no," Percy interrupted, pressing a finger to Frank's mouth, earning him an eyebrow raise. "Besides, when has stalking hurt anyone, anway?"

Frank could not believe this was the guy he asked for advice. Damn, Percy was worse than he thought. But he knew that no matter how much he protested, he wouldn't back down on the plan.

Looks like Leo was finally going to get found out. Frank couldn't help but smile at the thought, finally getting is boyfriend back. Or losing him forever. He chose to dwell on the former.

* * *

Hazel grunted as she watched Frank sit down on the opposite side of the table. This was the only time she saw him, and he avoids her! How rude.

It really wasn't his fault, and Hazel knew that. He had a wonderful boyfriend and didn't like her. Well, not in the way she liked him. And he never would. Not with Leo Valdez in the way.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn't bring herself to hate the Latino. He was just so sweet. She remembered sitting down and having a long chat about his family. By the end she was in tears, and Leo had no idea what to do. He was almost in tears freaking out, but she just pulled him into a big hug and laughed into his shirt.

Yeah, Frank couldn't do better than Leo. But Hazel couldn't do better than Frank, so there was the problem.

She had nobody to talk to about it either. Telling Nico would end in catastrophe because he would tell Percy and Percy would tell Frank hence ruining their friendship. Bianca would tell Thalia and all of the seniors and that was embarrassing in itself. So she kept it to herself.

What was the point of dating anyway? That one boy she went to the dance with dumped her the next day, claiming that she wasn't his type. What is that supposed to mean? Didn't you know that going into the relationship? Hazel decided her type was Frank. Not any guy named Frank, but only Frank Zhang, the Chinese Canadian who acted like a teddy bear in a grizzly bear's body. And of course, her perfect man had to be taken and gay, the two worst things for your soul mate to be.

Apparently her anger was showing and Jason poked her cheek. She looked jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You okay? Look a little… pissed," he said, cocking his head to the side innocently.

Hazel shook her head and propped it up on her hands, resting her elbows up on the table. "Nah, I'm fine," she said, not looking him in the eye.

Jason waved a hand in front of her face, making her look at him. "Hey, what's up? You can tell me, you know."

That was all it took to push Hazel over the edge. "Oh, go fuck yourself Grace," she yelled, flipping her tray in the blonde's face and standing up. With a few more swears she stomped out of the cafeteria, but nobody even noticed. They were getting used to the commotions caused and learned to ignore them.

However, the rest of the table did notice their usually shyest member to yell and scream profanities that she never even whispered under her breath usually. They all looked at each other, and realized that since Nico wasn't there, there wasn't anyone to go after her. Instinctively looking at Percy, Frank frowned. Percy was still looking at the door.

"Go," he said, and turned to Frank.

Frank was confused but didn't argue, and got up and walked slowly out the door. The hallway was empty, everyone being in class or in lunch. He continued down the hall, looking back and forth. Finally at the end, he heard a sound. A sniffling.

He whipped his head to the side to see Hazel on the ground in the corner, with her legs pulled up to shield herself. She was most definitely crying, a horrible crying that had no tears and just sobs. Frank honestly didn't know what to do, not only was he bad with girls, he was also bad with crying people.

Slowly, he walked over and kneeled down, putting a hand on her shoulder and rubbing it awkwardly. Hazel's head shot up, apparently not knowing anyone was following her.

"Haze, what's the matter? I wouldn't expect this kind of thing from you of all people," Frank said, offering a small smile. But it quickly turned to a wide eyed expression as her head whipped up with a pained face.

Just as Frank opened his mouth again there was a press against his lips. He only realized he was being kissed when she pulled away. Frank barely opened his mouth in surprise when Hazel pushed him and made him fall backwards. Within five seconds Hazel was sprinting down the hallway.

Well… Frank had no idea what was going on. And now he lost another friend. Fan-fucking-tastic.

* * *

_inulover305 - Thanks for the support for the story! I'm trying to update as much as possible but school is stupid :( Anyway, I'm glad you like it!_

_funlove109 - As always, I love you for all of your reviews and hope you are enjoying. You are like my favoritist person ever._

_Thanks for reading guys, hope you are enjoying it._


	7. Stalker Percy Strikes Again

Percy decided to stop stalking Nico. He was a big boy, and could handle his own problems, and other people's apparently. He didn't need his boyfriend to go around telling off anyone who even looked at him the wrong way.

So Percy moved on to stalking Leo. After Frank came back to the lunch table the day before slack jawed and confused as hell, he decided that taking charge was going to be the best action in this situation.

He managed to schmooze Leo's schedule out of Piper somehow, no doubt with promises he never planned on fulfilling, and skipped his second period class, which was when Leo had wood shop. Not even bothering to avoid teachers in the hall, he received weird looks as he leisurely walked without any books towards the other wing of the school, but he wasn't stopped or questioned.

They all knew by now that Percy Jackson was a wild card, and trying to understand him would just make the situation worse. The school was warned about his record, and were prepared to throw him out at a moment's notice, but so far he hadn't done anything to bring attention to himself. But better safe than sorry.

It was already ten minutes into the period when Percy finally got to the wood shop room. Okay, he had gotten lost a few times, but this was the wrong side of the school for him. Fearlessly, he opened the door, receiving a few strange looks from kids already at their work stations. Thankfully the teacher wasn't there, and he snuck in undetected.

It took about twenty seconds to find Leo Valdez. His mop of brown curls was usually noticeable anywhere, but he had such a determined expression it didn't look like him at all. And he had goggles on, so that made it harder.

"HEY LEO!" Percy shouted in the Latino's ear, and the younger boy jumped, sending saw dust into the air everywhere.

With a few clicks and yanks, the noise of the saw Leo was using cut off, and a very angry Leo stood there, glaring at Percy.

"What the hell was that for?" He demanded, crossing his arms. The dark haired boy shrugged and looked around. He could still barely hear Leo over all of the machines, so he grabbed his hand and pulled him into the hall. Leo tried to dig his heels into the ground, but he was too weak and the floor was too slippery.

"The fuck bro! You can't just barge in during class, this is kinda important," Leo wailed, before calming slightly and cocking his head to the side. "Wait, shouldn't you be in class too?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "That's not what's the issue here. The issue is you ignoring your boyfriend." He said the last word with air quotes, making Leo squint at him.

"What's that supposed to mean. Frank is my boyfriend, I do love him. I swear," he said, starting to get a little defensive. Percy had to stop himself from smiling, this was going well. Maybe not for Leo, but for him.

"He isn't so sure. He thinks you're avoiding him, which you basically are. You know, the whole Tavvy thing isn't helping, he thinks you might be getting the shit beat out of you too," Percy lied, trying to make Leo feel bad about himself.

It didn't work. "I see him every day, at least a few times. He would be able to tell if I was being bullied like that. And my ego isn't nearly as big as Octavian's; I would be the first to run for help."

Well shit, that didn't work out well. Percy stood silent for a moment, trying to think of something else to say. He hadn't gotten the answer he really wanted yet.

"Okay okay, if you do love Frank, why are you always here and not with him? I mean, you're skipping lunch, which is the best thing about school," Percy reasoned, stepping a little bit closer to Leo.

Leo let out an exasperated sigh. "I've been working," he said simply, and Percy raised an eyebrow, obviously not pleased with that answer. "I've been here, practicing crafting and using machines and metal working, okay? I need to know how to do all this stuff so I can get a scholarship for college, or else I won't be able to make it. It's not like I can depend on Frank to pay for everything, so I work here and then go home and work at the car shop, and then do my homework if I have time. What I don't have time for is Frank right now, and it's killing me."

By the end of the small rant, Leo's face was red and Percy's jaw was dropped. Just as Percy figured out how to talk again, Leo started back up.

"I know it's hard for him, but you know how bad it is for me! I'm in debt to him forever! He took me in, well, his grandma did but whatever, he feeds me, buys me clothes, he's the best I could ever get. He's absolutely perfect and sweet and amazing, but look at me. Leo Valdez, no family willing to take him in, no foster home willing to put up with him, nobody willing to even care about him. And he ends up with this perfect life at the expense of others. No, I don't like this. And maybe putting distance between me and Frank is the best thing I could do. He doesn't deserve someone like me, he deserves so much more. And you can tell him that, you know, 'cause the gods know I can't."

With tears in his eyes Leo slowly backed away, eyes not leaving Percy's until he got to the edge of the hallway, then he turned and sprinted off, shoes echoing all the way down.

Percy stood for a few moments, confused as all hell and a bit scared for the boy. Where was he going? What was he going to do? He ran to the edge of the hallway, but Leo was out of sight. He did however see an open door at the very far end, and heard it close loudly.

With a large sigh, he started back down to his wing of the school, unsure of what to do and what was to come.

* * *

Jason sometimes regretted taking gym.

Now was one of those times.

He was stuck in the locker room with all of the gross, sweaty guys all around him. He ended up with a bunch of seniors somehow, and they made fun of him every chance they got. Usually it wasn't actually mean teasing, just fun joking, but after a while it just got annoying.

Surprisingly, the senior that broke up the commotion around Jason was Luke.

"Alright alright, everyone go actually get dressed. And put some deodorant on, it smells like horse shit in here," he said, pushing through the crowd around the one of the smaller locker bays. Everyone dispersed and Jason got a few fist bumps from the nicer seniors.

"Thanks," Jason said, struggling to put one of his legs through his too tight jeans. Thalia had made fun of them this morning. 'Are those your way of coming out?' She had said, he laughed sarcastically then, but he was pretty sure they radiated homosexuality.

Luke flashed his winning smile. "No problemo, sometimes these guys wont' shut up. I remember last year, the seniors were horrible. Every joke they made was about gays or sex. Sometime both," he said and winked, making Jason feel a little uncomfortable.

"Is everything okay? You seem a little bit, I don't know anxious," Luke asked, scooting a little closer to the other blond.

Jason shrugged his shoulder. "I don't really know. Like, everything is fine and stuff, but…"

He didn't know how to elaborate. He liked someone, he honestly did. It was the kind of liking that crushed you inside a little, because he knew that she didn't like him back, at all. Sure, they talked sometimes, and were the best of friends, but it was different. She would never return the feelings, because she was simply too good.

"Girl trouble?" Luke asked, shocking Jason.

Just as Jason tried to talk, Luke interrupted. "I've seen that look on every player's face. Well, sometimes it's boy trouble, but same thing. I'm gonna guess your straight though, so girl trouble. Let me guess, you like her and she doesn't like you?"

Jason just nodded, not really knowing what to say. How was Luke so good at everything?

"Listen buddy, I'm gonna guess that whoever this girl is, she is real important to you. You don't seem like you go falling in love real easily. So take a chance, ask her out. Don't say if it's just friendly or if it's an actual date. Let her decide, and depending on her answer, you know how she feels."

Jason's jaw was on the floor by now, and he could only ponder one thing.

"If you're so good at this, how did you not know that Octavian was getting bullied everyday?"

Luke's smile instantly fell and he looked to the ground, a dark expression taking over his face. "It's a lot easier to give advice than to follow it, my friend. When it's you it's happening to, your entire mind goes blank."

Jason nodded and jumped up, pulled on his pants successfully and tugged on his shirt. He sprayed some shit in the air that supposedly smelled good and didn't even try to tie his shoes.

"Hey," Luke said, and Jason turned around. His smile had already come back, and gave Jason's ass a hard slap, more encouraging than sexual. "Go get her tiger… and don't tell Octavian I did that."

Jason smiled and ran out of the locker room, straight to her locker. He stood for a few moments, checking his watch and getting a little antsy.

Just as his confidence was beginning to fade, she showed up.

Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano. Not that he could ever pronounce her name if his life depended on it, but he still liked saying it in his head.

She walked down the hallway with her hips slightly swaying, her long black silky hair tied in a neat braid behind her so it swings. She was giving him a look which could mean 'get the fuck out of my way Grace' or 'what the hell are you doing here Grace'. Neither was really good, but the latter is a bit better.

"What the hell are you doing here Grace?" She asked, propping her books up on her hip as she put in her locker combination, raising her eyebrows at him. He smiled inwardly, before smoothing out his expression, trying to play cool.

"You wanna go somewhere this weekend, just the two of us? Like, maybe that diner or a movie…" He did well at the beginning but he started trailing off towards the end, losing all the confidence he had built up from his pep talk.

Reyna raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Sure, I'll text you later, I gotta go. She stopped a second and leaned over, pressing a light kiss to his check, before smirking and strutting off.

Jason couldn't help himself; he punched the air and did a little dance all the way back to his locker, where he spun in a circle a few times before actually opening it. As he was grabbing his books, the bell rang, but he didn't care.

He had a date, and whether she thought it was one or not, it still counted.

* * *

_inulover305 - This was an extreme circumstance I guess, I mean, everyone has a breaking point. Even sweet little Hazel. (And I kinda wanted to see her yell at Jason)_

_funlove109 - I honestly am not sure how their relationship is going to be... but they will all be together in some way! (I'm aware that was a really stupid answer, sorry)_

**Woo, a straight ship! This is new for me. Anyway, hope you guys liked it. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Leo Troubles All Around

Percy was putting off talking to Frank all day, but when lunch time came around, he couldn't avoid him. And it wasn't like Frank wasn't trying to find Percy. All day the Canadian had been looking around for him, asking everyone where he was. Both were late to classes, Frank busy asking around and Percy busy hiding.

But when the lunch time came around, there was no way to get around it. Percy snuck into the cafeteria, hoping to sit with Annabeth and Piper so he might be able to avoid Frank, but it didn't work out too well.

"Percy," Frank said, towering over the table, sending a shadow over the dark haired boy and his tray. Said boy cringed and turned around, so slow it was painful. Frank stood with his arms crossed like he had all the time in the world.

"Yes," Percy said, feigning innocence while chewing on his turkey sandwich.

Frank smiled without glee. "I was wondering why I haven't seen Leo since yesterday. He didn't come home, he wasn't at the garage, and he wasn't at any of our friend's houses, unless they lied to me. Now it makes me wonder that, even though he has been distant, he hasn't done anything like this since you decided to 'talk' to him. Sounds a bit suspicious, huh. You don't mind explaining, do ya, Perce?"

Percy was choking on his own spit when Piper stood up and stepped in-between the two large boys. It was quite a comical sight from afar, the short little Native American wedged between the buff Asian and the slender yet muscular New Yorker, but up close you could _smell_ the tension radiating off of Frank, along with anger. It was that strong.

"Hey hey hey, we don't know that this is all Percy's fault, now do we? It could be something else, something that sent him over the edge. We don't need to point fingers, okay?" Piper said slowly and sweetly, and Frank's anger seemed to fade until he had his puppy dog face back on. But now it looked like a kicked puppy.

"I guess," he mumbled under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck slowly. Piper smiled and sat back down, still facing the standing boy. Everyone at their table had tuned in, even Octavian, who for the day was back at their table.

"Perce, did you talk to Leo yesterday before school ended? Actually, before fourth period. I didn't see him after that," Piper remembered, and directed her body towards him.

He let out a deep breath, obviously not wanting to talk, but knowing he had to. "During second period I went down and talked to him, he seemed on the edge and yelled at me about how he didn't deserve the life he had, and was weighing everyone down." Percy could see Frank's mouth opening, but continued on. "When I accused him of working too hard he said that he needed to master everything to get a college scholarship, because that was the only way he was going to go to college. Then after that he ran out of the building, and I had no idea where he went."

Finally Frank broke in, breaking his stupor. "And you just let him go! What if he hurt himself or something! We all should go look!"

Piper lifted a hand to stop him, but Percy was the one that went to Leo's defense.

"I'm gonna guess Leo hasn't completely come out to you about all of the things he's done, because he hates to admit that he's done them. He only told me because we come from a familiar situation, always moving around. That boy lived on the streets for a long time; and he lived pretty freaking well. And that was when he was younger, now he'd be able to take down anyone that got in his way. I'm more worried about his emotional state rather than physical, he seemed pretty torn up when I talked to him," Percy said, resting his chin on his hand.

Frank frowns, obviously not okay with how well Percy is taking it, but Percy doesn't care. He remembered the time he stayed out on the streets as a kid. It was terrifying, and it made him admire Leo even more.

It was when his mother had to leave New York, for a funeral or something, Percy didn't really care about that. He was more worried about being stuck with his stupid step-father, smelly Gabe. He had acted really nice to him while Sally was packing, and then, as soon as she was out of sight, he kicked eight year old Percy out of the apartment building and shut the door that required a key to get in. Percy had cried for an hour, waiting for someone from his building to come and let him in, but they never did. When it got close to nighttime, he hid in the alley next to the building and eventually nodded off. He was awoken by an old lady with a shopping cart. She silently handed him a can of beans and kept going. He called out thank you but she didn't stop. After that, he sat on the steps until his mother came back that afternoon. She cried and cried. That was when she finally got a divorce.

"-ercy. Percy. PERCY!" Piper yelled in his ear, starling enough to make him fall off of the bench. After Piper stopped giggling, she went back to an extremely serious expression that kind of scared him. Apparently Frank had gone back to the other table and he had been sitting there staring off for a while. He apologized under his breath before turning around and finished his lunch, and then he jumped up and went to find Nico. He needed to get something off of his chest.

* * *

Leo let out an abnormally large sigh. It was abnormal because the usually happy Latino almost never sighed, and when he did, it was usually for comical effect.

But sadly this was a very real sigh, with very real pain. The pain that makes you wanna rip your heart right out of your chest, and you know that it would hurt less. And you know that it would make it stop.

Leo had gotten used to the pain after a while; he had forgotten what it was like to live without it. Then, when Frank came along, it made the pain go away a little bit, and Leo liked that. Admittedly, he probably liked it too much. He had trained himself not to get attached to people, that was why his chest hurt so much in the first place. Of course, back then he didn't know that it would hurt this much, and he was so young he probably wouldn't have believed anything anyone said about it.

The worst part about the pain was that it wasn't a new wound, and it hadn't been reopened. It had simply never healed, and Leo never knew why. He had talked to counselors all about it, and other people that had lost someone they loved, but they never seemed quite as broken as he did. Maybe they just hid it better, or maybe he was just too weak, like everyone at school had told him.

He knew that wallowing didn't make the pain better, honestly, it made it worse. But wallowing was easy, and easy was good. So he sat at the train station, staring at the board that had all of the times and cities that the trains were going to. Of course, his intended destination wasn't there. It was too small of a town for a train. But he could get close, and maybe the pain would hurt less the closer he got. Or it would hurt more. A shot in the dark was better than leaving the gun on safety.

He dug a wallet out of his pocket. It wasn't his own wallet, he had pick pocketed it off of some random guy at the bus stop. He didn't really care if he got caught at this point, actually, it would be preferred. It would stop him from making a stupid decision at least.

There were some upsides to what he was planning on doing. He could finally go back, maybe figure some things out about himself. Leaving would be good for everyone, Frank wouldn't be tied down and his friends wouldn't have to drag him along to things so they didn't feel bad.

The only downside was that he was going to a basically foreign place with almost no money and didn't know anyone. Okay, there were quite a few downsides, but Leo chose to ignore those. He was leaving, and that was final.

Back to Texas. Back to where he was born. Back to where his mother died.

* * *

Frank dropped the book he was reading. It was a giant ass book, so it made a loud ass sound.

"Holy shit, _no_." Frank barely whispered.

He pulled on his pants with blinding speed and rushed out of the door, ignoring his grandmother's swears and shouts and dived into the car.

Pushing it into gear, he drove off towards the train station.

It was Leo's mother's birthday. It was three days away from the day she died.

No wonder he left, he was going to his hometown.

And he was leaving without Frank.

* * *

_funlove109 - Yeah, the stalking was getting a little out of hand. And Percy wasn't very good at it._

_inulover305 - Wouldn't you be if the person you liked agreed to go on a date with you? (Of course it could just be a friendly hang out but don't tell Jason)_

_Guest - I would never do that! I ship them too hard! And Caleo is the worst ship ever (my opinion don't hate me), I would never do that. But I do intend of weaving Hazel in here and there..._

_Woah woah woah, what is even happening. The whole thing that Leo's mom died three days after her birthday is totally made up, they don't say anything about it on the wiki so... Please leave reviews and criticism or anything I don't care it can be completely unrelated to the story. I'm pretty easy to please. Thanks for reading!_


	9. So Much Gay, So Little Time

So maybe trying to get to Leo in less than ten minutes wasn't a realistic goal. And maybe it would get him arrested because of the ridiculously fast speed he would have to drive. And maybe Leo would already be gone by the time he got there.

But there was a chance that he wasn't. There was a chance that he hadn't left and was just sitting there, waiting for the train to come and whisk him away. Away from his life, and more importantly at the moment, away from Frank.

Frank was riding on that chance. He would have prayed, but he might have crashed the car, and that would cause even more problems.

* * *

Leo was, indeed, sitting and waiting for the train.

It wasn't supposed to come for another hour, so he had some time to simply sit and think about all of the stupid things he had done over the years. And there was little voice in the back of his head, one that sounded strangely like Frank's grandmother, which was telling him this was the worst idea of all.

An even louder voice, that sounded a lot like Hazel, was telling him that he was loved, and all of his friends would be devastated if he left. And Hazel was urging him to think about Frank. Leo wasn't sure why Hazel cared so much about Frank, even if it was just Leo's Conscience Hazel.

But the loudest voice of all was Frank's, telling him to go. To follow his dreams. And this was his dream, even if it was a really hazy dream, and he wasn't sure if it was a nightmare or not.

"I know you're used to moving around a lot," Frank had said when he had first moved in, "but this place seems really nice. I hope you like it. And if you don't, you're free to leave and do whatever you want. Nothing here is holding you back, unless you let it."

At the time the speech seemed a little odd, but thinking back on it brought tears to his eyes. When had he fallen in love with that big idiot?

* * *

Frank remembered falling in love with Leo better than he knew anything else. Of course, love takes time and all that bullshit, but there is a moment where you just that you're in love.

It was at that stupid car shop, where Leo spent all of his time working on cars. He was in the middle of doing an inspection for an apparently wealthy client, and the car was pretty fantastic.

Leo thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He gasped upon seeing it for the first time. He fretted around, not even wanting to touch it. And after ten minutes of dancing around it, his boss yelled at him to do the damn inspection. Well, that's what Frank thought he said, he didn't speak Spanish well enough to actually know.

The hood of the car opened so smoothly Leo almost cried, and then almost cried over what was in the hood. Apparently this car was the crème of de la crème, but that wasn't what was important. It was the look of Leo's face.

Actually, there were multiple facial expressions, and every single one was perfect. From surprise to ecstasy, to the look of pain when he actually finished checking up on the car. Frank hadn't realized he had stood and watched the entire time, and the reason he came was to give Leo his food. Again.

That was moment he would never forget, and he promised himself he would buy Leo a car even better than that, so he could see him like that all over again.

* * *

Percy pounded on the door to his boyfriends house. A loud and surprisingly deep bark made him jump out of his skin, and put him even more on edge. He knew coming here meant a lot, and he was risking everything he learned in all of the other schools he got kicked out of. He didn't mean the curriculum, he meant the life lessons, the things that actually would help him survive.

And he was breaking the number one rule for kids like him. Don't get attached.

There were sub rules too. Like don't make too many friends. Whoops. Don't fall in love. Too late. And most importantly, don't tell secrets. Well, he was about to break that one.

It was Nico that showed up at the door for once, already wearing his pajamas and had a spoon stuck in his mouth. His eyes wandered up and down Percy lazily, like he was out of it. Before Percy could even question his boyfriend, he was attacked.

Mrs. O' Leary had gotten big. Not fat, but just, big. She was starting to grow out of her puppy look, even though her paws were still un-proportional as hell. There was more growing to do for her still.

"Whoa girl, it's just Percy," Nico said carelessly, and walked forward to but a hand on her back. With a simple touch, she stopped and ran back inside. Damn that dog was trained well.

"Just Percy? What's that supposed to mean?" Percy said, dusting himself off, slightly offended. He was here to talk and Nico didn't even want to see him.

"You know that's not what I mean," Nico sighed, turning and going back inside. Percy obediently followed, closing the door behind him. Silently, Nico trekked up the stairs and straight to his room, while his boyfriend took of his shoes and scrambled up behind him.

When they got to his room, Nico laid down flat on the bed and let out a groan. Percy raised his eyebrows, what happened to him? Before he could even ask, Nico started rambling.

"Okay so you know how I'm still technically in archery? Well, Will wants me to go to the next competition with him and the rest of the team. I mean, it sounds fun and all, but I'm afraid I'll suck and let them all down. I mean, I'm not that good, and they obviously are just trying to include me since I stick out like a sore thumb everywhere else. What happened to the idea of trying out a bunch of clubs? I just wanted to try a new thing, that's all I wanted. Not be sucked into some cult with bows and arrows. I mean seriously, guns are so much cooler! And they require much less effort. And no pain in your fingers when you're done. Seriously, these people need to get out and see what the twenty-first century has to offer."

Nico let out a long sigh and flipped back over onto his back, staring right at his ceiling fan, which wasn't on, thank god. He would be blinded. With a thump, he felt Percy lay down beside him.

"You know, I came here to talk about me," Percy said, and Nico raised an eyebrow, even though he knew that Percy couldn't see it. "And you're rambling has made me feel better about my oncoming rambling, so you might want to brace yourself, okay?"

Nico nodded and pushed himself up next to Percy so they were side by side. The older boy extended an arm for a pillow, and let Nico get even closer.

Then he plunged into his story. Not one with knights and princesses, but one with one sad little boy and all of the adventure he had gone on. Almost all of them ended badly, but the select few that were good, were so amazing Nico couldn't stop smiling, especially with Percy's voice echoing through his dark and sullen room.

He never thought that he could have such an amazing person there for him. Someone that loved him, and at this point Nico knew Percy loved him too, because he knew how much his past meant to him. And that gave him the little bit of confidence he had always needed.

* * *

"An explanation would be very useful right about now," Luke said, lying on Tavvy's 'so comfortable it should be illegal' couch. That was what Luke called it. Admittedly, he loved this couch more than what was probably ethical.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Octavian called down the stairs. "For once can you be patient Luke? Would it kill you?"

"Yup," he called back, shoving popcorn into his mouth as he watched some shitty soap opera. They had decided that it was 'date night' and that they had to spend at least one night a week together to make up for the long absence. It was all Octavian's idea, feeling horrible about what had happened, even though it was in no way his own fault, but it wasn't like Luke could turn down spending a night at his boyfriend's house.

Octavian came down the stairs slowly, so Luke could bask in his beauty. He was wearing skinny jeans, for the first time ever. They were very uncomfortable, but he had to prove a point.

"Tavvy would never wear skinny jeans. He's out and all, but he wouldn't go around like that, he's not that kind of person," Connor had said.

"Yeah," Travis added, "but imagine Luke's face if he did though. Oh, that would be priceless!"

Little did they know, Octavian was right around the corner listening. And snickering.

And there he was, going down stairs in the pants that hugged his ass a little too tight. Luke apparently appreciated it, based on his slack jaw.

The slightly shorter blond sauntered up to Luke, placing his arms on his shoulder and wrapping his hands together behind Luke's head. The senior was frozen for a minute, but quickly moved his hands to Tavvy's ass, and stuck them in the very tight pockets. Octavian let out a small chuckle, of course that was what he did first. Teenage boys, what could you do?

They stood there for a while, Octavian smiling proudly and Luke reveling in the beauty that was his boyfriend.

As the two blonds leaned in for a kiss, all Luke could think was that he was never, ever letting Octavian wear skinny out in public. That sight was for his eyes only.

* * *

_funlove109 - Honestly I have no idea what I plan, I just kinda write and hope it ends well... Not the most efficient way..._

_the guest - My style is whatever looks cute together, and that totally does. Hazel is gonna work her way in there somewhere, she's a pretty determined girl ;)_

_Eyy, I don't know what happened this chapter is so gay it kinda hurts. But I'll work in some straight next chapter, to even it out a little more. Not that there is any problem with just homo ships, almost all of mine are..._


	10. Dates Don't Ever Go Right

Ever wonder what happened to the "date" with Reyna and Jason?

I do too, so let's find out.

* * *

Jason was admittedly pretty excited. His first date with Reyna had to be perfect in every way. They were going to everyone's favorite Italian diner, well, Tavvy's favorite diner, then on a walk. Reyna had suggested a movie but they couldn't agree on anything. Jason wanted romance while Reyna wanted action. Secretly Jason wanted action too, but it would ruin the whole mood he was going for.

So it was decided they would go on a long walk through the park, and then back to Jason's place for some video games. He planned that by then she would be utterly in love with him, and that they would be happily making out at his house. That was the plan anyway, and Jason knew that it was going to go well. He could feel it.

Reyna wasn't so confident.

She knew that her best friend liked her, and it kinda put her on the edge. On one hand, they had a perfectly good friendship that shouldn't be ruined. But on the other she wanted to try and see what happened. Explore the feelings she had for him that had grown over the years.

Yes, she had a crush on him. Who didn't? He was the perfect blonde boy with a little bit of a rebellious side. The kind of boy all of the girls in crappy love stories fell in love with. With his blue eyes and chiseled figure, it was a wonder how he kept the girls off!

So she was pretty happy when he asked her out on a date. Yes, it was obviously a date. She knew that he was trying to play it off as a hangout as friends if it didn't go well, but she could see right through him. Not like it was hard, she could read almost anyone, and Jason was especially easy. Growing up knowing someone makes it hard for them to lie to you, or dare to sneak something past you. Good luck if you do try.

But her sister didn't like it, and that was enough to put a damper on the situation.

"You shouldn't let men rule your life. They're useless and ruin everything they touch, including you." She had given her a whole speech on how they poisoned everything with their evil taint, and then went back to beating the shit out of their homemade punching bag with renewed vigor.

Another problem was her closet.

She wasn't the kind of girl known for all of her nice clothes. Really she was known for wearing the most comfortable thing possible at all times, and that was usually sweatpants and sneakers. Not saying she didn't rock sweatpants and sneakers, she just didn't get noticed very often.

After throwing everything on the ground, picking it back up again, and then promptly throwing half of it on the ground again, she found something.

It wasn't all that great, but in a low income family it was like something you would wear to the red carpet. Black and white striped shirt that cut off right above her belly, and a high wasted mint skater skirt that went mid-thigh. With a pair of black and white converse and a white headband she walked outside and sat on the creaky bench that had been there when they moved in gods knew how many years ago.

A few minutes later, Jason pulled up in his worn looking car. It wasn't a surprise; Thalia was a dangerous driver and probably crashed more than her fair share of times. He quickly jumped out and opened the door on the other side for Reyna, who got up slowly and walked over, flashing him a quick smile and got in silently.

She openly checked Jason out as he crossed back over to the driver side. He had on a blue plaid button up that was open revealing a white undershirt. He had kakis on that went to his knees, and wasn't wearing those stupid socks that went up to his calves for once, and wore black vans. Reyna nodded to herself in approval, he looked presentable. Must have asked someone to help him. She put money on Nico or Bianca, since Thalia didn't have an ounce of fashion sense.

As they drove away Jason chatted endlessly about a new game that came out, and Reyna hadn't heard of it. They approached the diner slowly, pulling up so that they didn't hit the sign and damage the car further.

But we'll check in with them later! Let's conveniently check on Leo and Frank!

* * *

Frank might have run over someone on the way there, but he did make it to the train station. Eventually. Pushing his way through the crowds he managed to find the large board with all of the destinations on it.

Texas Texas Texas Texas, he thought as his eyes raked through the names and numbers. Finally he caught one and sprinted off, causing a few people to yell and swear at him, but at the moment he didn't give a shit.

When he got to the station the first thing he noticed was a mop of curls. A mop of curls that could only belong to one person.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" He asked, and the figure didn't even turn around. Leo would usually jump if you merely tapped him in daylight. But in the grungy underground with a deep voice echoing behind him, it's as if he had been expecting this his entire life.

Leo merely shrugged. With raised eyebrows Frank rounded the bench at sat down right next to the Latino, leaving no space in-between.

After a few minutes of silence Leo let out a sigh and raised a hand. In his palm were two tickets and he held them out to Frank.

Frank grabbed one and flipped it between his fingers.

"I got you one," Leo said slowly, still not making eye contact. "I didn't think you would come, but it was more for morale than anything."

Frank turned his body to simply watch his boyfriend. His hair was a bigger mess than normal, is clothes smelled a little funky, and his eyes were droopy like he could pass out any minute.

"Well, then I hope you don't mind me coming on your little vacation then, since you already bought me a ticket," he said, grabbing Leo's ticket also and stuffing it in his pocket. With one arm he grabbed the smaller boy and pulled him against his chest. Within seconds he was out like a light. With a light smile Frank just sat there, for once not worrying about the strange looks.

* * *

After nearly getting kicked out of the restaurant, they stumbled laughing back to the car, not without promising Margaret to tell Tavvy hello, and plopped in, having to hold their stomachs they were laughing so hard.

"How about we just go back to your place," Reyna suggested after she caught her breath. "I'm tired and it looks like it's gonna rain anyway."

Jason tried really hard to form a sentence a few times, but then he gave up and put the car in drive and started back towards his house.

Of course Reyna would want to skip the most important part of their date! She had to be sensible and realize it was supposed to rain and he didn't even bother checking the forecast before. Damn her and her common sense.

When they got back the first thing she did was slide off her shoes and run to the living room. Sliding in her socks she almost fell on her ass as she turned on the X Box, and then quickly claimed her favorite spot on the couch.

Jason watched in the doorway, trying not to laugh as she snuggled up into the blankets. She fumbled with the controls until the screen came on, and she looked over at him expectantly.

"Are you just gonna stand there, ya lazy ass? We got questing to do!" She yelled, effectively making Thalia yell back from upstairs, but neither noticed.

Jason smirked and jumped onto the couch, snatching his controller and smiled at Reyna.

Sure, it wasn't what either of them had imagined, but it was still a pretty fucking amazing date.

* * *

Bianca laughed as she heard her girlfriend yell down the stairs.

"Jason and Reyna are home I see," she said, sprawling out on the black covers. She threw one of the magazines Silena had given her across the room, landing on a pile with a dozen more.

"Yup, and as long as they keep quiet they can do whatever the hell they want," Thalia said and sat back down on the floor, scrolling through tumblr on her computer.

"Oh, look at this one. Nice, right?" Bianca said, showing a dress to her girlfriend, who raised her eyebrows and went back to the internet.

"You know that I'll never get a prom dress if you don't help me!" She shouted, throwing the magazine right at Thalia's face. She didn't even flinch.

"We wouldn't have to if we didn't go to prom," Thalia suggested, looking up hopefully, but her gaze was cast back down after she received a glare. "Just a suggestion," she mumbled under her breath.

Bianca finally let out a long moan and rolled off of the bed so she could sit right next to the other black haired girl.

"Thals, I know you don't really wanna go to prom, and for obvious reasons that you have stated multiple times in the past. Like, 'it'll be boring as hell' and my personal favorite, 'we'll just get made fun of'. Have you not seen the new generation? Look at Tavvy and Luke, they outted themselves in front of the entire school and look at how well they did!" Bianca said, but immediately regret what she said, and tried to backtrack. "Well, I mean Tavvy is a really easy target. And we came out a long time ago and everyone was fine with it. There is no reason not to go! Silena is counting on us."

She grabbed Thalia's hand encouragingly. For a while they just had a stare down, Bianca looking up with her best puppy dog eyes and Thalia glaring. Eventually Thalia rolled her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like "alright fine".

Bianca whooped for joy and jumped on her girlfriend, knocking them both over. Within seconds they heard a disgusted yell.

"Gross! Stop immediately! Gah, what the hell Thals!" Jason yelled with his eyes covered standing in the doorway.

Thalia turned her head and glared at him. "Maybe if you didn't barge into my room. What do you want?"

"I just wanted-" Jason started, unclasping his hand, expecting them to have moved. "Ugh! Never mind, I'll do it myself!"

With a few stomps and grunts they were alone again. And after a few seconds, broke out laughing, Bianca rolling onto the ground beside her girlfriend.

So they laid there like that for a while, just enjoying each other's presence. Ah, what a way to live.

* * *

_Thank you guys for nice reviews! You guys are the best! And if you haven't reviewed... okay. They are greatly appreciated though. ;)_

Don't ask me what happened at the restaurant, it's a long story that neither Jason nor Reyna would like shared. Did you know I have no idea how to spell restaurant? I would like to thank autocorrect for fixing it because I am obviously an idiot that never learns. But besides my moronic behaviors, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!


	11. Plaid is Bad -A Novel by Piper

"Okay, so then comes Tavvy down the stairs wearing- no. Guess. Guess what he was wearing," Luke commanded his table that Monday. He had the doofiest grin on his face, and looked from person to person.

The only one that shared his enthusiasm was Silena, who had a soft spot for the junior. Clarisse was staring at the clock, waiting for Chris to get there. Bianca and Thalia were partially listening partially cuddling on the other side of the table, while the Stoll's flung food at each other.

Silena just shook her head excitedly, not wanting to waste time when she could be gossiping. Just as Luke opened his mouth, Chris and Charlie sat down at the table, talking animatedly about class.

The look of ecstasy that was on the cheerleaders face slid away and pure fury replaced it. She turned to her boyfriend and yelled right in his ear.

"Shut it!" Not only did it get his attention, it also alarmed the rest of the cafeteria. The entire room was silent and stared at the senior table, but it wasn't uncommon for them these days so they all only half assedly listened in. Silena, back in her happy-go-lucky mood, she stared at Luke like he was the only other person there.

It only took minutes for chatter to resume, but no one talked at the seniors table. Anyone besides Luke would have had the grace to blush, but instead he preened.

"He came down the stairs, wearing," he paused for effect and Silena took a deep breath, "skinny jeans."

The Stoll brothers jaws' went slack and they stared at each other, both sharing the same thought. Silena cocked her head to the side, and Charles merely huffed and put an arm around his girlfriend.

"That's… it? Just skinny jeans?" She said, taking a sip of water. Luke shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arm.

"And then there was the best sex I've ever had, but yeah, that's it," he added, and smiled slyly at the group. Silena spit all of the water right in his face.

"WHAT?" They all shouted in unison at Luke, who wiped the water off his face and smirked proudly.

* * *

Piper had no clue what she was doing.

Why was she here? Who had let her in? Wasn't it obvious she wasn't cut out for this? I mean, everyone else had acne and bow ties and suits and she had on jeans and a ripped up t-shirt.

She was about to go full panic attack when she was pulled forward by Annabeth. They maneuvered around groups of parents all chatting excitedly, until they got to a bathroom near the edge of the convention center. There was a large window showing a wonderful garden with pretty statues, and Piper tried to steer in that direction, but damn, Annabeth was strong.

Of course, her girlfriend had worn the right clothes. She even had a little bow tie that looked adorable with her hair tied in twin braids going down her back. Even all nerdy she looked perfect, and Piper couldn't stand the fact that she had missed her dressing up like this for so long! But then she realized that would have required going through this hell _all_ the time and the loss wasn't nearly as bad.

The blonde girl threw a bag at Piper and pointed to the stall, not finding necessary to actually give instructions. Or maybe she was saving her voice for the actual competition. Piper had no idea how serious this stuff was taken, and didn't want to mess anything up.

She silently put on the clothes, only stopping to grimace at the contents when she first opened the bag.

Stepping out, Annabeth smiled proudly and a bit creepily. Piper, however, looked like a kicked puppy.

There was altogether too much plaid. On the crest of the sweater and on the skirt. Okay, to Piper any plaid was too much. The shoes were classic Mary Janes, and they even had little buckles on it. Maybe if she was two, it would have looked cute, but not now.

Annabeth barely gave her time to check herself out in the mirror before pulling her out of the bathroom and back through the maze of people. Getting trampled was not fun for Piper, and when she dropped one of the bows Annabeth had told her to put in her hair, she let it be, knowing there was no way to go back and get it. Who knew so many people would show up for a nerd convention? Obviously not Piper.

Finally they made it to the room where the participants sat and waited until they got to go on. Piper just tried to make it seem like her third grade musical, where she waited forever to go on stage, and then when she finally got on, she stood there and smiled the entire time, not saying a word. That was how she planned to go through this, let Annabeth answer all the questions, and she herself wink at the boys on the other side to distract them. Seemed like a good strategy to her.

They found a little secluded corner in the moderately crowded room. Getting enough space wasn't hard, because the boys moved out of the way as they approached.

_What do they think we have, _Piper pondered_, cooties?_

She entertained the thought that maybe they knew they were lesbians, and were trying not to get infected with gay. A lot of people did that, and as much as Piper pretended she didn't notice, it did hurt. She was just a human being, and liking women wasn't a disease that was spread by touch, or even by breathing the same air.

Annabeth shook her to wake her up from her inner angry monologue.

"Hey, don't get nervous. The questions are pretty easy in this round, and even if you do miss one, it won't deal too much damage," she said with an encouraging smile. "Plus, I'll be right next to you the entire time, so I can help you with the rules if you get confused."

Piper had to stop herself from laughing. There was no way she was going to answer any questions, not unless everyone else was dead and the killer had a gun to her head. Maybe not even then, she would rather die.

And she knew all of the rules anyway; Annabeth had drilled them into her head for the past week. Anytime they talked she would drop hints about studying or actually start reading off the official rules from the website. A few times she sent Piper texts with a link to the website and claimed it was on accident. But Piper wasn't as stupid as she pretended to be, and knew everything down to the word.

The only tricky part was the questions, which were of course the most important part. Piper had decided to join Annabeth in the genre of architecture and the arts. She did actually find art pretty interesting, both musical and visual. She had originally wanted to do films, but was disappointed to find out that wasn't a category.

Annabeth had gotten out flashcards and was reading them off silently but mouthing the word in a way Piper found adorable, and had to stop herself from leaning over and stopping Annie's lips with her own.

After a good five minutes of studying, Annabeth looked up again and noticed her girlfriend was gone. With a surge of panic, she whipped her head back and forth, looking around the room. She let out a deep sigh of relief when she saw Piper by the snack table, stuffing her face with a glazed donut, while grabbing a few bags of chips and no napkins. The blonde's lips involuntarily curled up watching the brunette act like a buffoon, and then saw all of the other kids watching Piper in horror. That was enough to put a scowl on her face.

With a light push, she was on her feet and striding over to the table. The chip bag was gripped so lightly that Annabeth had no trouble taking it from her girlfriend, and then took a few dozen napkins.

Piper's multicolored eyes looked up into grey ones in confusion, like a puppy that had done something wrong but didn't know exactly what. Annabeth smiled lightly and leaned over, pretending to be oblivious to all the prying eyes, and pressed a light kiss on her girlfriends check. She could taste the glaze of the donut and licked her lips absentmindedly. The Native American blushed and directed her gaze to a particularly interesting spot on the wall, before waddling back over to their spot in the corner and dropping the stash of food.

Annabeth beamed proudly and walked back over, not without putting a little skip before it, and sat down next to the hoard. They both opened two bags in the noisiest way possible, popping them, and didn't bother to look at the reactions of the others around them. They were in their own little world, and that was all that mattered. They even ignored all of the horrible looks and curses thrown at them.

* * *

Wow I'm bad at updating. And then when I do try to update my computer decides I don't _really_ need internet. Thanks buddy.

As always, please review! Unless you don't want to. I don't own you, I don't even own myself. Actually, I think I do, but I'm not really sure. I'll shut up now.

Another thank you to funlove109 for always leaving nice reviews and basically helping me keep going! You're the best!

Wow I use a lot of exclamation points. I'll actually shut up now. Thanks for reading! (Dammit I did it again)


	12. Sports with di Angelo

Percy thought that maybe getting Nico into a sport would be a fun experience for both of them. They could bond over it and talk about it and maybe help Nico to not look so sickly.

He did not expect to be owned at everything they tried.

They started with running. Cross country couldn't be that hard if it was a no-cut sport, right? Wrong.

While Nico leaped like a gazelle up hills and jumped over tree roots with no effort, Percy crawled and tripped. No matter the obstacle, he managed to fall, whether it be in a ditch that neither saw or into the blatantly obvious stream.

"Percy, the bridge was three feet wide and the rails were up to your waist!" Nico yelled as he fished Percy out of water, trying not to fall in himself.

The green eyed boy struggled to get a hold anything to pull himself out. "Contrary to your belief, I don't really want to fall in or off everything," he called, shooting Nico a glare. "And maybe if you would wait for me instead of running off!"

"Oh I'm _so_ sorry," Nico rolled his eyes and took back his hand. "You're the one that invited me, and I'm enjoying this, so excuse me for making the most of it."

Percy huffed attempted to blow the hair out of his face, but it was plastered to his forehead in a mixture of stream water and sweat. "Are you enjoying the running or me falling and in constant pain?"

Nico pondered for a moment before smiling and extending his hand once again, which Percy took immediately. "A little bit of both, I suppose," he said and tried to pull his boyfriend up.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Percy was quite a bit heavier than Nico, and Nico leaning over the edge didn't help his stability. So needless to say, they both went tumbling in.

About ten minutes later, they were both on dry land, although neither were dry at all. Percy was regretting planning this stupid outing, while Nico was smiling like an idiot. Of course, he was freezing and felt a cold coming on, but that didn't deter the feeling of giddiness washing over him.

"You're shivering," Percy pointed out as they sat on a log near the stream. Nico hadn't noticed, but yes, yes he was. He shrugged and rubbed his hands together. Percy rolled his eyes and peeled the shirt off of himself, and then grabbed at Nico's too.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked, and slapped away Percy's hand. The older boy gave him a look and Nico put his hands up obediently.

With both of their shirts on the ground, the two sat there once again, this time considerable more comfortable. Well, Percy was comfortable, Nico was blushing uncontrollably at the thought someone might come by and see them shirtless in the middle of the woods.

"I give up, this is too hard," Percy declared, standing up and offering a hand to help him up. Nico ignored it and got up by himself. He bent over and picked their shirts up from the ground, throwing Percy's in his face.

Percy was in so much of a shock that Nico got a five second head start in their race back to the car. Unsurprisingly, Nico won, leaving Percy face-first in a bush. Picking the leaves out of his hair later was tedious for Nico, but totally worth it.

* * *

The next sport was basketball, which Percy was pretty good at. He could not imagine Nico being even remotely good, but yet again he was surprised.

Their school had a basketball court around the back, and one day after school Percy stole Nico away and forced him to change. Utterly confused, Nico didn't argue and silently changed while Percy didn't even try to hide as he stole looks at his boyfriend. Nico eventually yelled at him to get out, accompanied with some selective words.

Nico finally emerged and looked absolutely adorable in Percy's too big shirt and shorts that were about to fall off his slender hips. He crossed his arms and glared before Percy pulled him towards the courts, but not before pressing a light kiss to his lips. Nico knew he should have been used to this kind of stuff by now, but it still made him blush.

When they got to the court, Percy let go of his boyfriend's hand and sprinted to the bench, grabbed a basketball, and jogged back.

"Okay," Percy said, catching his breath before continuing. "Do you know the rules of basketball?"

Nico threw him a look. "I know how to play basketball, Perce. I had gym in grade school, and even though it's hard to believe, I was almost on the basketball team in middle school."

"Almost?" Percy asked, tossing Nico the ball.

Nico shrugged. "The players didn't really like me, and the coach was a total homophobe. Of course, back then I didn't know why I wasn't allowed on the team. But honestly I'm thankful, being on a team with a bunch of ridiculously tall and athletic guys would have been a-"

"Dream come true?" Percy finished, smirking.

Nico threw the ball at Percy's face, but he caught it easily. "Nightmare. It wouldn't have worked out anyway, I'm this size and I'm not gonna grow anymore."

Propping the basketball on his hip, Percy walked over and put an arm on the shorter boy's shoulder. "But you're adorable sized."

Nico snorted and ducked, appearing behind Percy in an instant. "Well, this adorable sized boy is going to _own _you at basketball," he challenged, slowly walking backwards.

And sure as hell, he did.

* * *

Okay, volleyball was indeed a girly sport. But Percy had played on a girls' volleyball team once for less than innocent reasons, and he was pretty damn good. There was no way Nico could beat him in this.

Percy needed to stop being so confident, it was getting him nowhere.

They rounded on the volleyball court at the gym, where neither of them had a membership. A girl that neither knew let them in near the back.

_Being ridiculously hot has its advantages_, Percy thought.

"See ya later, cutie!" She called and winked at Nico as she ran back to the pool.

Percy's jaw dropped and Nico waved meekly, a light smile on his face. Needless to say, Percy lost some of his confidence, and Nico's was completely renewed.

There was nobody there, it being right after school. Besides, volleyball wasn't a very popular sport in the first place.

While Percy scanned their surroundings to make sure they were alone, Nico volleyed a ball up in the air and started passing to himself. The green eyed boy stopped just to watch.

The look of concentration on Nico's face was just too adorable. His eyes were narrowed, watching the ball go up and down, shuffling his feet forward and backwards, extending his arms and letting the ball bounce up and down.

When the ball dropped, Percy felt a wave of sadness, and he shook it off quickly. What was he doing? This was not the point of coming here.

"Neeks!" Percy shouted, and Nico's head whipped up. "Throw me the ball!"

Nico rolled in under the net, and bent his knees and put out his arms, in position.

_Can he get any cuter?_ Percy thought.

Tossing the ball up in the air, Percy's hand collided with it at an awkward angle, and sent the ball right into the net. Percy shrugged and as the ball rolled back, lightly kicked it over to the other side.

Nico picked up the ball and took a few steps back. After hitting it on the ground a few times, he threw it high in the air.

_What the hell is he doing? That's too high,_ Percy pondered, unsure of his boyfriend's decision.

Then Nico took a jump and hit the ball midair, sending it sailing through the air and landing right between Percy's feet.

Both black haired boys stood there, staring at each other, until Nico's face broke out into a small smile, and then they started laughing. And they didn't stop for a good while. They only stopped when an employee asked them to show their membership cards, and then they were kicked out. But after that, they started laughing again.

But the moral of this story is that Nico di Angelo is capable of more things than you could ever imagine. Percy never forgot that.

* * *

**I thought you guys needed an entire Pernico chapter because why not. Anyway, sorry for being stupid and not updating... I'm not very good at this whole writing and posting thing. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Texas and Ruined Moments

Chapter 13: Texas

They had only just gotten there, and Frank was already homesick. What would his grandmother think? That they had run off out of the blue? Would she call the police? Or call the school and make up an excuse for the pair?

Even though his head burned with the thoughts, Leo was keeping him grounded. The look of determination in his eyes was scary yet reassuring. It wasn't like it was new to see his boyfriend like this, but there was a layer of graveness over the usually all too cheery face. Frank was starting to think that that face Leo always kept up might just be a cover, and that this was actually what went on underneath.

And he hated that thought.

All of the great times they had to together, the ones where Frank was sure Leo was genuinely happy for once, were all ruined. It hurt more than he could explain, but Frank kept up the straight face and followed Leo around the airport silently.

He wanted to ask so many questions. Do you really love me? Was that a lie too? Why did you never tell me about what was hurting you? Why don't you trust me?

But Leo kept on moving forward, not looking back to see if Frank was even there. Frank felt unneeded once again, like he was just slowing everyone down. Like he was in all of the sports he played when he was younger, and much less athletic but the same size. Back then it hurt too, but his grandmother told him to suck it up and he did.

There was one thing that Frank was sure of, there was no way in hell he was letting Leo out of his sight. Not until he knew what was wrong.

* * *

Leo knew he was being irresponsible, but that was what he did, so he kept doing it.

He shouldn't have let Frank come, it would interfere with football or school or something and later everyone would blame Leo for it and he wouldn't be able to do anything but sit there and take the accusations. He played through the scenario in his mind several times, and each one hurt more.

But the thing that hurt most was seeing Frank sitting so proudly next to him on the plane, with an arm around his shoulder. The girl next to him had tried to flirt with him a couple times, but got the message soon enough. She sat there awkwardly for the rest of the trip, sparing glances at the two.

Leo knew they were an odd sight. Two guys that weren't even talking to each other sitting so close. At this point he had given up on Frank releasing him. As much of a pushover Frank was, this was something he would not let go, literally. When they shuffled off the plane, he had a hold on the back of Leo's shirt. So when they escaped into the main terminal, Leo kept himself at a distance so there was no way Frank could latch onto him.

He only turned to look back once, and he immediately regret it when he saw Frank's pained expression. All he could do was push forward and pray that Frank followed him, he didn't want to be alone now. It was too close and too late.

* * *

They managed to get a taxi in only a few minutes, and Frank almost cursed. He was working up the courage to say something while they waited, and as soon as he was almost there and had the entire dialogue planned out, the cab drove up.

Leo hopped in first, pushing himself as close to the door as possible. Frank was left with throwing the bags in the trunk, ignoring the "helpful" driver.

The ride was only a little awkward, with the driver trying to start up a conversation.

"So what business do you boys have here in Houston?" He asked innocently.

Frank honestly didn't know, so he stayed quiet and tossed Leo a look.

Leo didn't even look up. "Visiting my mother," he mumbled.

Frank thought he would be relieved to hear him talk after hours of silence, but he was infuriated. He would open up to a total stranger but not his boyfriend? Well, if you could even call him that. There probably weren't any feelings there anyway, why even use the term?

The driver nodded and tried to discreetly closed the separator, but it banged up against the glass and Leo flinched. Frank had the impulse to put his arm around him, but fought it back and crossed his arms, staring at the back of the seat in front of him.

The drive was only fifteen minutes, since getting out of the city was easier than going in. Soon enough they on the outskirts.

Frank paid the driver because he knew Leo wouldn't have enough money. Leo got out and started walking down the street. Frank didn't even try to catch up, it was obvious Leo didn't want him there. As much as it hurt Frank, he stayed back.

But it only lasted one block. Leo stopped at the street corner. The light was red and he could have crossed but he didn't. He stood there looking back at Frank. When Frank got there he stopped too, right in front of Leo.

Leo bit his lip, a nervous habit Frank had noticed when they started living together. His gaze was on the ground, then it moved up to Frank's hand. And with a flash, Leo's hand was in Frank's. Frank almost jumped and pulled back, but he calmed himself.

Leo finally looked up, right into Frank's eyes. Brown on brown. Frank couldn't help it, his jaw slacked and his mouth opened a little. Leo's lips curled into a little smile, and he turned back around, not letting go. He gently pulled Frank right into the street, even though the light had turned back to green and cars were already passing by the couple.

But Frank didn't care, he dodged a few cars and ended up pushing Leo forwards with his other hand so neither got run over.

Frank still had no idea what was going on or where he was going, but he didn't care. As long as Leo had that little smile that he knew wasn't fake, anything could happen to them.

* * *

"Perce, have you heard from Frank?" Nico asked, laying upside down on Percy's bed with a book on his chest. "Hazel's been worrying nonstop, he hasn't been answering his phone or something."\

Percy shrugged. "Nope, maybe he's just busy. But Leo hasn't been answering my texts either, which is really weird."

"Aren't you kinda the reason he skipped school and ran off?" Nico asked with an eyebrow raised. Percy considered it briefly before going back to his computer. The boy on the bed just let out a sigh and flipped over onto his stomach. "Maybe they're together and don't want to be interrupted."

Percy looked up with a sly grin. "What an imagination you have, di Angelo."

"That's not what I meant!" Nico yelled, throwing one of Percy's Spongebob pillows at his face. "Must you make everything sound dirty?"

Percy pushed the computer off his lap and climbed onto the bed. "You're the one that said it, I just commented. But what if they are together, that's good right? Leo's been ignoring Frank for a while now, and if they suddenly make up I'm the one responsible for getting them back together."

Nico rolled his eyes and sat back up on the bed, letting Percy put his head in the younger boy's leap. They sat there for a while, Nico absentmindedly playing with Percy's silky hair. Neither wanted to talk, so they didn't.

_So this is perfection, _Nico thought_. Comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence._

_ I hope my mom doesn't come through the door, _Percy thought, casting his gaze over to the entrance. _That would totally ruin the moment. Not to mention she wouldn't drop it for the rest of my life._

_ I hope this never changes, _Nico thought, closing his eyes and smiling.

_ I hope we get to have pizza for lunch, _Percy thought.

* * *

Hey! I actually updated! It's sad that I wrote another fic when I was supposed to be writing this one.. but go check that out! If you wanna! You don't have to! Anyway, please leave a review! Thanks for reading!


	14. A Simple Questions

The school year was slowly coming to an end. With all the finals coming up, everyone was stressed, but also beyond excited. The school year was almost over! And that also meant that prom was coming up.

"I don't understand why it's a big deal," Nico said, folding his pizza the way Percy had taught him. "I mean, it's just another dance, except less people are allowed to come. This school its juniors and seniors, right?"

Percy nodded and folded his pizza too. Hazel rolled her eyes and looked over to Reyna, but she was too busy laughing at something Jason said. She couldn't help but smile.

On the other hand, Percy was sickened. They were so cute together it was disgusting. If Jason talked about her one more time during their guy nights, he swore he would hang himself.

"Jason looks so happy, doesn't he?" Nico said, dropping the previous topic completely. Hazel nodded happily and took a sip of her soda.

Percy grumbled. "They're obsessed with each other; it's getting a bit annoying."

"They love each other," Nico protested, glaring at his boyfriend. "That's not a bad thing."

Percy rolled his eyes at how protective he was of Jason, and Reyna for that matter. Whenever he tried to make a joke at either of their expense Nico would glare or hit him. It wasn't like Percy was trying to hurt them or anything, but Nico still got mad no matter what.

"Well I love you and I don't go around blabbering all the time," Percy said.

Before Nico could protest Leo came up behind Percy and slung an arm around his shoulder.

"I beg to differ, sir. When you two had just gotten together you talked of nothing besides Mr. Di Angelo for _weeks. _Whenever anyone tried to change the topic, you would find some way to go back to Nico. It was actually quite entertaining," Leo added, "the great and powerful Percy Jackson head over heels in love."

As Nico's face began to warm up, Frank sat down next to Hazel on the opposite side of the table.

"It's true," he said, "we would be talking about football with Luke and Jason and he would say something like 'oh Nico and I watched that game together. He looked so cute cuddled up under-'"

"That's enough guys," Percy said through gritted teeth, his face red with anger and probably embarrassment. He peeled Leo's arm off of him and Leo went to sit beside Frank.

"Anyway," Leo started, "are you guys going to prom?"

Hazel shook her head quickly and mumbled something about homework or clubs. Nico looked at Percy before shaking his head and looking down at his lunch.

Leo noticed something about that look, something familiar. He had seen it in some of the foster homes he had stayed at. When kids wanted something but were too ashamed to ask for it in fear of getting yelled at.

Nico wanted to go, but he didn't want to ask Percy. He was afraid he would be crossing a line.

Percy merely shrugged his shoulders and kept eating. Leo sighed; he wasn't going to get anything out of any of them. What great conversationalists.

They all finished their lunches with minimal chat, and when Percy was getting up to throw away his trash, Leo did too.

"You gotta ask him, bro," Leo said, nudging Percy as they walked.

"Ask who what?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Nico you idiot, to prom."

"He doesn't want to go, he was complaining about it earlier."

"No dumbass, he doesn't want to ask you to go," Leo explained, sighing. "He's too afraid that you won't want to go with him."

Percy's eyes got wider as he comprehended what Leo was saying. Leo had to stop himself from laughing. Damn, that guy was slow. Especially when it came to Nico.

"What am I supposed to do?" Percy asked, in almost a whisper.

Leo shrugged. "Ask him to go to prom with you, not that hard."

Percy nodded and started walking towards their table. Leo chuckled quietly and went after him.

_ This guy really just does everything without thinking, doesn't he?_ Leo thought. _It's admirable but also kinda stupid. No wonder he needs Nico there to stop him from blowing himself up._

He saw Percy sit down right next to Nico, and turn to him.

"So, you wanna go to prom with me?" He asked, more like he was asking if it was something he liked rather than if he actually wanted to go.

Nico sat there for a while, just staring up at Percy like 'are you fucking kidding me'. Leo wasn't sure what he was thinking. If that was how Frank asked he would have said no, but Nico was a hell of a lot different.

With a sigh, Nico merely nodded and started to laugh.

"What?" Percy asked, looking a bit annoyed.

Nico coughed a little and smiled at his boyfriend. "You're so romantic, Perce." Then he leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to Percy's lips.

Hazel made a little throat noise and the two split, Nico looking a bit embarrassed and Percy looking indifferent like he always did about PDA.

Leo smiled softly and leaned into Frank. It wasn't a conscious move; it was just something he had been doing lately since Frank was so warm and big.

Frank shifted under him and he felt a warm arm around his shoulders. He could hear Frank's heartbeat and was surprised at how steady and soothing it was.

_Damn, I'm going soft, _he thought_, this kinda stuff is grossly romantic._

Instead of sitting up and acting more manly, he snuggled into the arm more.

_And, not so bad, I guess._

* * *

Annabeth had everything planned out, but that wasn't a surprise to anyone. Not only would she make Piper love her even more, she would impress the living shit out of her. If that even was possible.

So when Piper rounded the corner that led to the library, she dropped all of her books in shock, and saw her blonde girlfriend smiling so wide it looked like it hurt.

Annabeth had told the gardening club three months in advance about this, and they hadn't let her down. There were flower petals all over the floor, and the walls were lined flower pots and beds, with the brightest colors either had ever seen. The only hard part had been setting them all up. Octavian finally stopped complaining when Luke walked through; trying to figure out what was going on. Rachel managed to convince him to help out too, knowing it would shut Tavvy up. And it worked. Instead of complaining he was listening to Luke's stories about what the Stoll's did in class to get the in school suspensions.

But none of that mattered to Annabeth now. The only important thing was Piper's face as she walked down the hallway, watching her step so she didn't slip. Annabeth took a few deep breathes and walked forward to meet her halfway. Even when she got there, Piper was still looking around, trying to take everything in.

"Well…" Piper finally said, looking right at Annabeth, who merely smiled and handed her a card with an elaborate floral pattern on it and said Piper in elegant cursive.

Piper flipped it open and scanned it quickly, probably skipping the first few lines like she always did. Annabeth watched her eyes go back and forth, then up, then down. Finally they looked right at her.

"Yes."

The answer was simple, but so was the question.

The card fell to the floor noiselessly, landing on the petals.

The card had a long declaration of love on it, but that wasn't the important part. The important part was the last two words.

_So, prom?_

* * *

**By the way, the folding the pizza thing is the New York way of eating pizza. That's why Percy taught Nico it because that's totally something Percy would do. ANYWAY, huge jump here but this is the important part of the year! This story, as well as the year, is winding down and going to end soon. Only a few more chapters left!**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave a review, ya know, if you wanna. Thanks for reading!**


	15. Sleep Is Important

Frank tried so hard to be romantic, but of course it backfired on him. Apparently, Leo hated flowers and started sneezing uncontrollably when Frank gave him the bouquet. But he said yes, so it didn't matter that his attempt totally failed. At least Leo knew he tried.

Walking down the street on the way home from school, they saw Hazel all by herself sitting on a bench. Leo, of course, came up from behind her and scared her.

"Good Gods!" She cried out, and looked at the smiling face behind her. "Leo? What the hell was that for?"

Leo raised his hands and smiled. "Sorry, you were too much of an easy target. Couldn't resist," he said, hopping over the bench and sitting down next to her. A little too close in Hazel's opinion.

Frank stood there awkwardly. He hadn't forgotten that kiss, and he knew he should. It was weird to think that someone besides Leo liked him. He should have been flattered, but it only upset him to think that she might have gotten her hopes up when Leo and him were fighting, only to be shot down. His only hope was that she had moved on.

"Do you have a date to prom yet?" Leo asked, nudging her with his shoulder, smiling even wider.

She looked taken aback. "Uh, no. I don't really plan on going, nor would I want to. Besides, I'm not even a junior, it'd be really awkward."

Leo rolled his eyes. "C'mon, a pretty girl like you could get any senior. Hell, you could get Luke, if he didn't have Tavvy of course." Hazel looked down at her lap, cheeks heating up at the compliment. Leo didn't stop.

"Seriously, you're nice, cute, funny, smart, what is there not to like! Anybody would be lucky to have you. Right Frank?"

Oh shit. Frank started panicking, and when Hazel's wide, golden eyes caught his, he couldn't help but nod. It was true after all, she was beautiful and amazing.

No! What was he saying! He didn't like her, he liked Leo. That was enough.

But Leo was the one complimenting her in the first place. And Frank could tell by the look in his eyes that he meant every word.

"So, how about you go with us?" Leo offered.

Hazel's eyes went from Frank to Leo in an instant. Frank looked at Leo too, with the exact same confused expression.

"Wha-what? But you guys are going as a couple, I'd just mess things up," she said, smiling sweetly.

Leo threw an arm around her shoulders, ignoring how rigid she went. "Like it's possible for you to ruin anything. You'd make the night even better! And don't worry about us; we want you to be there too. Right Frank?"

Leo needed to stop saying that, because it put him in the spotlight where he did not belong. So he nodded numbly again. He could see Leo narrow his eyes and signal to say more, but he couldn't.

"Haze, you're important to both of us. I think. Frank apparently forgot how to speak so I don't know about him," Leo said, throwing a glare at his boyfriend. "But I care about you, and I want you to be happy! So, if you would do me, and Frank, the honor of going to prom with us, I promise to make you the happiest girl in the entire world."

He grabbed onto her hand and brought it to his lips, still smiling at her. It was so romantic Frank felt like taking a picture. Both of their faces were priceless. Hazel was so red in the face she looked like she would catch on fire, and Leo looked like a boy in love.

Wait, love?

Before Frank could even try and understand what was going on, Hazel cleared her throat and took her hand back slowly.

"Well, I-I don't really know what made you think that this would be a good idea," she started serious, but broke into a smile, "but I would love to go with you, both of you." She tossed a look over to Frank and gave him a bright smile, and he forgot what he was thinking about.

Leo stood up and let out a whoop of joy, pulling Hazel up from the bench and giving her a big hug. After a few seconds he pulled back and motioned to Frank, who hesitated, but eventually gave in and wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling them in even tighter.

Sure it was awkward, but Leo and Hazel were both happy, so he struggled through it. Oh, what we do for love.

* * *

Octavian was beyond tired. There was a certain point where your body shuts down from lack of sleep, and he was minutes away from that.

But Luke was stressing out over colleges and really needed a rock. And poor Tavvy was that rock.

There they sat, at three in the morning, in Luke's room with papers all over the bed and floor. The room was a mess before, which bothered Tavvy immensely, but now it was pure chaos.

"What about this one?" Tavvy said, handing a paper to Luke.

The older boy took one look and gave his boyfriend a strange face that Octavian wasn't sure was disgust or agitation. It probably wasn't either of those things, but his vision was starting to go.

"This is for a girl's school," Luke said, chuckling. Then he flipped it over, "in Europe."

Octavian raised his eyebrows and attempted to grab the paper, but missed a few times.

"Why the fuck do you have this then?" He asked, throwing it over the side of the bed. He watched entranced while it made a pretty circle on the way down.

Luke merely shrugged his shoulders and flipped through more brochures. Tavvy tried to stop fading in and out of consciousness. It wasn't working. He could feel himself nodding off. Once, he closed his eyes while Luke was reading a blue brochure, and when he opened them he was reading a yellow one. Whoa!

Tavvy laid his head face first on the bed spread and giggled. Then he started giggling more, amused at the sound it made. He felt something on his shoulder and brought his head back up.

It was Luke's hand, and he had the other over his mouth, trying not to laugh. Tavvy narrowed his eyes and glowered at him.

"It's not nice to laugh at people, ya know," he said trying to sit up, "especially when it's your boyfriend that is trying to help you with college stuffs."

"Yeah, you're being a big help."

Octavian preened and fell back on his face, moaning into the bed. Luke rolled his eyes and threw another packet on the floor. He laid back on his pillows, almost completely flat. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to sort through all of the colleges he didn't hate.

_That one had a nice campus, but it's really expensive,_ he thought, feeling himself start to doze off.

He felt a light pressure on his abdomen and his eyes flew open immediately. He tried really hard not to laugh, but it came out anyway.

Octavian had his head on Luke's stomach, and a hand laying completely across it, almost reaching Luke's. The rest of his body was sprawled out. One of his legs was almost falling off the bed, and his other hand seemed to be pinned under him. But what was the most amusing was that his pants had slid down so his underwear was visible. Luke thought it was adorable, but Tavvy wouldn't.

He leaned over and yanked them up, eliciting a yelp from the boy, who obviously didn't expect that.

"If you're trying to undress me, you're doing it wrong," he said, turning his head to look into the others eyes.

"I would never take advantage of you when you're borderline delusional, I'll take advantage of you when you're perfectly stable and want to be taken advantage of," he said, smiling down at him. "How long have you been awake, anyway?"

Octavian was quite for a minute. Luke was sure he had fallen asleep, and jumped when he opened his mouth.

"Thirty nine hours," he said, "and counting."

"May I ask why?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Prom requires a lot more work than I expected, and the teachers have me running errands for them and homework and we have a history project and I've been trying to help you."

"You don't have to help me with this, it's my own fault I waited this long to start," Luke said, dragging his hands across his face. "You should take it easy."

Octavian muttered under his breath. "Easier said than done."

"Anyway, are you planning on going to prom?"

The younger blonde's head shot up, and he sat up using his hands.

"If that is how you plan on asking me, no," he said, eyes narrowing and leaning towards his boyfriend. "You have to do better than Annabeth, or we'll lose, which is not going to happen."

Luke chuckled. "Not everything is a competition you know, and I just wanted to know if you even wanted to go, if you weren't busy with all of your extra crap that you do."

"I think I can clear my schedule," he said, smiling and laying down next to Luke, who instinctively put his arm around him.

Sure the room was a mess, and Tavvy was a mess, and Luke was a stressed out mess, but everything else was fine. And Luke's previous thoughts of colleges were chased away and replaced with the fear of what would happen if his prom proposal didn't meet his boyfriend's standards.

* * *

**Yay, Frazeleo kinda. I just wanted Hazel to be happy, and hopefully this makes her happy! The next chapter will be the last so... I'll update as soon as possible. Please review! If you wanna... I like those dots. Thanks for reading!**


	16. Prom

Nico thought he looked rather spiffy. Bianca didn't.

"Get your hair out of your face! You look like an idiot!" She yelled, reaching over to muss with his hair, but he grabbed her hand and glared.

"I look fine," he said, dropping her hand. "Worry about yourself. Oh wait, you aren't going."

Maybe that was a little rude, but she had been bothering him all day and it was finally getting to him.

He gaze dropped to the ground, and she clasped her hands behind her back. He knew she was doing this to get pity, because she really wanted to go but Thalia didn't. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, almost hypnotically and perfectly timed. Nico let out a sigh, but she didn't look up. Finally he gave in.

"Fine," he said, closing his eyes and facing his sister.

He heard an excited squeal and then felt his hair be tugged forcefully. He had to hold in a yelp, and was quickly regretting giving any control to his sister. He loved her, yes, but he did not love what she tried to do with his hair. When he was younger she managed to give him pigtails without him knowing, and he left the house with them in. Needless to say, she was ignored for an entire week.

He felt the tugging stop and opened his eyes to see an empty hallway. There was a crash from the bathroom and Bianca appeared again with a spray bottle and a brush. With an inward groan, Nico let himself be steered to a stool in the kitchen.

What felt like hours later, the doorbell rang and Bianca threw the brush on the counter and ran to the door.

Of course, it wasn't Thalia, since she was always late. It was Percy. She looked him up and down before smiling sweetly and opening the door wider. He gave her a small smile and stepped in. The floorboard squeaked under him, like it always did when he came to his boyfriend's house.

There was no sign of Nico anywhere. Percy was going to ask where he was when Bianca full out sprinted into the kitchen, sliding in her socks on the hardwood floors.

There was a yell in a language he didn't know, and a loud thump and a few crashes, but moments later Nico stumbled out into the atrium.

Percy was shell shocked. His boyfriend's hair was sticking up with gel, so it was out of his eyes for once. It was the first time he had seen Nico without his hair in his face, and he looked beautiful. Okay, that word was for girls. Handsome. It made his chocolate brown eyes stick out more, and his eyebrows were in a perfect arch, but they looked so natural. And there was no way Nico would care enough about his appearance to actually do them.

"I-I didn't know you had a forehead," Percy mumbled under his breath.

Nico glared, but his cheeks glowed like they always did when Percy said anything about his appearance. That boy was too easy.

Percy held out a hand and Nico cautiously took. With one swoop Percy pulled Nico flush against his chest and pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead.

"Gross."

They both turned towards the door, only to see Thalia with a disgusted look on her face. Nico bent over and picked up a shoe, then threw it at her.

"Ouch! The hell are you doing, asshole," she said, then looked at Nico and her expression changed. "You look nice; did Bianca do your hair?"

Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed Percy's hand. "We're going. BYE BIANCA!" He yelled into the kitchen.

Within seconds she appeared with a bright smile. "Don't do anything stupid, have fun! Use protection! Don't let Jason get drunk!"

Percy started to laugh but was soon jerked out the door by a very persistent-and blushing- Nico.

* * *

"So, how do you feel?" Octavian asked Luke while checking himself out in the mirror in the school bathroom.

Luke turned around and looked him in the eye, cocking an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Tavvy said, looking himself over one more time, fixing his bow tie. "This is your senior prom, after this year you're off to college. This is one of the last school events you'll be going to, right? That's gotta feel weird."

"Now that you say that, I guess. I hadn't thought it about it like that," Luke took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend from behind. "How do you feel?"

Tavvy shrugged off the arms around him and turned around sharply. "Don't change the subject. I know a lot has happened in a year, with your mom and stuff, but you have to think about the future. I can't be the only one worrying about you!"

"I just don't want to think about it," the older explained, grabbing his boyfriend's hand. "Because in the future I might not have you, and I don't want that."

It took Octavian a moment to register what he was saying, and his face went bright red and dropped the hand.

"Don't be so cheesy!" Tavvy complained but couldn't help smiling. Luke caught it too and they left the bathroom grinning like idiots.

Luke grabbed Tavvy's hand, dragging him through the halls. They passed a few couples hungrily making out in the hallway, and they made faces of disgust at each other. It wasn't uncommon for couples to do that, but now since the hallways were void of the general population, it was painfully obvious. Octavian had made comments about them after school on many occasions.

"I don't understand why they do it, like, what's the point?" He had mused, digging into a burger and spilling ketchup all over himself.

Luke had chuckled and leaned over to wipe his boyfriend's mouth. "They probably just want to show people they're together. Ya know, the people that date just to show people they're desirable."

"I can't imagine doing that," Octavian said, shaking his head and frowning.

"Let me tell you, it sucks. From both sides," Luke said, looking the other dead in the eye. "If you're being used, you either know they're doing it for shits and giggles and you mean nothing, or you don't and you think they actually care about you. Then when you find out all she wanted was to be able to tell her friends she fucked the Luke Castellan. But if you're the one using them, you're only doing it to show your friends that you aren't unattractive and unwanted, and you constantly feel bad about doing it. Well, I do, I don't know about the other jerks out there that do it."

Octavian had merely sighed and went back to eating, not wanting to make the mood even darker.

When the duo arrived at the doors, they stopped at the same time.

"Ready?" Luke asked, lightly squeezing the hand that was in his.

"Ready." There was a harder squeeze back.

With big smiles, they swung both doors open and made the grandest entrance of the night.

* * *

Luke and Octavian may have had the grandest entrance, but Clarisse and Chris made the grandest exit. And it wasn't very long after the amazing entrance.

Clarisse opted out of wearing a dress, since she didn't think it would look very good on her and she despised the things. So she was wearing a simple button up shirt with dress pants, and Chris thought she couldn't have looked more beautiful.

They chatted and danced for a while, all calm and peaceful, until a group of assholes showed up. That was the best and only way to describe them.

"Oh look, Clary isn't wearing a dress. Big shocker," the tallest said, and she recognized him from her gym class. She merely crossed her arms and let him keep talking. "And she's with her fake boyfriend."

Chris broke the rule of not talking back when someone bullied you, and Clarisse almost slapped him.

"Fake?" He said, taking a step forward. She almost pulled him back, but that would have made it worse.

"You didn't know? She's totally a dike and is just using you so her parents don't know," he said proudly, and the boys behind him chuckled and cheered.

It took a lot of effort to not start shouting, but Clarisse merely rolled her eyes. "If I was a lesbian in hiding, why would two of my best friends be very out lesbians?"

The asshole was stumped by this one, and one of his buddies had to step in and help him.

"So people think you're straight 'cause you have lesbian friends," he said, and there was another round of cheers.

Chris threw his hands up in the air. "What does that even mean?"

"It means your 'girlfriend' is a lesbian, dumbass," the head asshole said, in a slightly louder voice. More people were starting to surround them, and Clarisse was inching towards her melting point.

"Yeah, I'm the dumbass here," Chris said, and it was truly the worst comeback imaginable for the situation. At this point, she wasn't sure who she was more mad at, the assholes for starting the fight, or Chris for fighting back. Well, at least Chris was trying.

"Listen up!" She yelled, making everyone in the entire gym stop dancing and turn towards her. Someone even stopped the music. She saw her friend's heads pop through the crowd. Luke, Silena and Charles were behind the group of assholes, and all had grave looks on their faces, like they were ready to fight if need be. But Clarisse didn't want to fight, she wanted to go home.

"First of all, my name is Clarisse, not Clary. Secondly, I, as much as I love my lesbian friends and support homosexuality and all that shit, am not gay. I have no problem with gays, and if I was gay myself I would be fine with it, but I am not, so I will not be referred to as such. And finally, my boyfriend Chris is very much real and I do indeed love him, even though it may not seem like it. Thank you for your time, hasta la vista, bitches."

With that she grabbed Chris's arm and pulled him out of the gym and towards the parking lot. He was still stunned at how she had said that she loved him, and was smiling like an idiot.

* * *

After the scene with Clarisse and Chris, the assholes dispersed into the crowd and were not seen as a group for the rest of the night. This was most likely for their own safety since Luke looked borderline murderous until Tavvy took him outside for a bit. Silena had tried to leave and get scissors to poke out their eyes but thankfully Charles grabbed her before she could get to the sewing club's room.

"This night has been pretty eventful so far, huh," Annabeth said, and repeated it because Piper couldn't hear her over the music.

"Yeah, all of the seniors are trying to get one last big impression in before they leave," she said, smiling while bobbing up and down. "Can't blame them, don't wanna go out without a bang."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "I don't think that's what-" but she knew it was a lost cause to argue with Piper. So they just danced and drank punch.

Jason and Reyna were less than ecstatic to be there, and it was pretty obvious. Neither had wanted to go in the first place, but when a friend begs you to go, you can't say no. Well you can, but you look like a total asshole.

"Should we go and find them?" Jason asked, and Reyna knew he was referring to their friends, but she wasn't sure which friends.

She nodded and entwined their arms as they walked through the doors. They had already gotten their pictures and Jason had managed to blink, although it didn't matter with the light reflecting off his glasses.

Before coming, he had managed to tear his contacts and without them he knew he would be blind, so he suffered the consequences of his actions and looked like a total dork. Reyna had told him he looked cute, though, so it made it better. He was not ashamed to say he preened at the compliment.

They pushed through the crowd, almost knocking over a girl that was dancing a little too hard and seemed a little too drunk. It was easy to tell who had hit the bottle and who hadn't. Those that did looked happier and danced a little more freely.

It wasn't hard to find the Annabeth and Piper, and they chatted a little before a rockin' song came on and they all started dancing stupidly. But they were having fun, and that's the point of prom, right?

* * *

Hazel was not having fun.

She was worrying.

They were right outside the door, the three of them. She knew they would get some strange looks, and she was trying to calm down and say that it didn't matter. But she knew it did. What would they say? Would there be rumors about her? Would it be just like her other school?

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and surprisingly didn't jump. Although she did turn her head sharply, only to see Leo with his bright cheery smile on his face. His gaze caught hers for a moment, then rested above her head, so she turned to the other side and saw Frank. He had a nervous smile and must have felt the exact same way Hazel did.

But that was all she needed to get going. She grabbed both of their hands and yanked them towards the doors. Frank whined and Leo cheered, but both pushed the doors open, almost hitting some juniors on the other side.

The night was pretty normal for a good two hours, then there was an annoying microphone screech and everyone cringed, looking up to the stage, annoyed.

"Oh-uh, sorry," one of the older teachers said, smiling apologetically at the group in front of him. "It is now time to crown the prom king and queen!"

There was a roar from the now interested crowd. Luke got poked by a few of his friends and smiled, whooping, while Octavian shook his head but couldn't help beaming. A few girls around Silena started straightening her clothes and her hair, while she tried to tell them to shut up and stop.

"Maybe it's you, Perce," Nico whispered in Percy's ear, but his boyfriend just laughed and turned his head.

"Everybody voted for Luke and Silena," he said, "I did, you did too, didn't you?"

Nico nodded lazily and shrugged, trying not to smile, turning back towards the stage.

"Okay everybody! Our nominees for prom queen are," he unfurled a paper in his hands. "Drew Tanaka, Silena Beauregard, and Annabeth Chase!"

The first two strutted up to the stage confidently and took their places next to each other. However, it took a minute for Annabeth's legs and brains to start working again. Piper had to push her and she almost fell, but she did make it up to the stage.

"And our nominees for prom king are," he looked down at the paper again. "Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, and- oh. I don't think this is right." He looked over his spectacles at the paper before sighing and saying, "Thalia Grace."

There was an eruption of laughter and the two nominees that were male and present walked up to the stage. Nico smirked at Percy when he caught his eye, and the green eyed boy only stuck his tongue out childishly.

"Okay then, this year's prom king, no surprise, is Luke Castellan!"

Luke beamed and stepped forward to get his crown. He felt a pat on the back and saw a smiling Percy.

The crown itself was pretty standard, garish and plastic. But nobody cared about the prom king, it was all about the queen.

"Now for what everyone has been waiting for! Our queen, by an overwhelming majority, is none other than," there was a dramatic pause, and someone sneezed. "Silena Beauregard!"

Confetti started raining down from the ceiling and cheers erupted from the entire crowd. On the stage Silena received hugs from both Drew and Annabeth. The latter was genuinely happy for her, and Drew of course wasn't.

Silena strode forward as elegant as ever, smiling politely and nodded towards Luke, who was clapping still. The queen's crown was better than the kings, obviously, and looked a lot more like a tiara. It had the school crest instead a jewel, but the crown itself didn't matter, it was the title.

As it touched her head, she started laughing delightedly. The moment was almost perfect; the only thing that would make it better would be if Charlie had been king.

"Now for the king and queen's dance!" the announcer interrupted, and stepped back, allowing the two winners to meet at the center of the stage.

Luke winked and Silena could only laugh. They locked hands and went down the stairs to the middle of the dance floor. Luke had his hands in place immediately, and Silena briefly remembered when they took that ballroom dancing class together in their freshman year. It seemed silly at the time, but it had actually been worth it. And they had a great time.

Everyone watched as they glided back and forth gracefully. An onlooker that didn't know them would swear they were in love, which maybe they were, but in a different way.

* * *

"May I have this dance?"

Octavian's head snapped up and he realized he'd been frowning.

"Me?" He asked Beckendorf who was towering over him.

The older boy chuckled, and it was almost terrifying due to his deep voice. "You're the only one over here sitting and moping," he said, stretching out a hand. "Let's dance."

"You do realize I'm not a girl, right? Everyone is going to think you're gay," Tavvy said cautiously, but still reached out and took the hand.

With a tug, the blond was on his feet and being pulled towards the center of the gym.

"I'm dating the prom queen, I think I'm fine."

Tavvy rolled his eyes. Soon they were right next to Silena and Luke, who were still dancing. Luke shot a look over his shoulder and saw Octavian laughing while holding hands with Charles.

There was a surge of anger through his body, and protectiveness. He felt his hand tighten around Silena's and she sighed. Boys were so stupid.

She tugged his hand down so he leaned down with his ear near her mouth. "Go," she said softly, but he knew it was a command.

He smiled and straightened out his tux before walking over to his boyfriend.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" He asked politely, and Charles let go of Octavian's hand and separated.

"Only if I get my girlfriend back," he said, smiling and walking away.

Luke stepped in front of Octavian and with no warning, grabbed his hand and pulled him flush against his chest. Octavian blushed and rolled his eyes, but didn't move back. Instead he leaned up and pressed his lips to the others.

* * *

Percy had drunk so much punch he thought he was going to explode. It wasn't that he was thirsty; he just didn't want to dance anymore. Telling Nico this would have been too easy, so he just stood by the table with snacks and didn't move.

He could see Nico chatting with Reyna and laughing at Jason who apparently could not dance at all. Annabeth and Piper were missing and no doubt making out in the bathroom, and Frank, Hazel and Leo were all dancing together, ignoring the strange looks they were getting. It was enough to warm anyone's heart, and Percy was already feeling warm in his tux.

"Boo," he heard behind him, and he threw his drink in the air, managing to get it all over himself. It was, of course, Nico, who almost wet himself he was laughing so hard. It took a while to get him to stop laughing, and for Percy's face to go back to its normal color, because it was previously aflame.

"I should apologize, but I'm not going to," Nico said, taking a seat at one of the tables. Percy sighed and sat down next to him, pulling up a chair.

"Are you enjoying yourself at all? I know that this isn't really what you're used to-" Percy began, but Nico quickly interrupted him.

"It's awesome! Reyna and I stoll Jason's glasses and he's totally blind without them, so he started running into things. And Annabeth and I danced together a little bit. Hazel seems happy too, I just wish Bianca would have come."

Percy shrugged and put an arm around Nico, who leaned into it.

"It's cool to see how the school has changed, ya know, with everyone accepting everyone. You got Luke to thank for that, huh," Nico said, still smiling.

"Oh and guess what," he said, turning to look at Percy, who raised his eyebrows. "I voted for you for king."

"Really?" Percy asked, laughing. "Why?"

Nico's face went red and he buried his head in Percy's shoulder before mumbling something.

"Say that again?" Percy said, but couldn't help smiling.

Nico lifted his head and turned it so he could watch the people on the dancefloor.

"Because you're my king," he said softly, and scooted closer to his boyfriend.

_THE END_

* * *

**That only took forever. I apologize for being horrible at getting things done, but look! This is finished! I just want to thank all of you that read this and Here For Good for reading my stories. You guys are awesome. I really hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review! If you want. Or not. I'll leave.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**


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